Never Gone
by xXxrisenangelxXx
Summary: After two years in prison, a lot of things can happen. Finding old friends; making new ones; and finding more dangerous enemies. Join Jak as the adventure comes to a close and mysteries are solved once and for all. Severe language. COMPLETE!
1. Strange New World

**Risen Angel: Well hello my fans, whom I hope will enjoy this next story that I have been writing for about two months so far and will hopefully take a lot longer to complete. If you are wondering what this story is then you might want to sit back, relax and enjoy reading off of a screen for the next hour or so. Well, it might only take a few minutes for each chapter, but for now just enjoy what I will be sharing with you. **

**Summary: My version of Jak II, a story of mine that will hopefully follow the storyline as much as I can make it. Please be aware that some of the words may be slightly off and that the words that Naughty Dog used for the game will be changed slightly just for my using at least. Will be rated M, for language, violence, suggestive themes and hopefully some romance, but not a lot.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the characters or places, except for the characters that will be introduced later. Please remember that little bit of information for later readings.**

**Chapter One: Strange New World**

Samos' Mind From Diary

For every age, there is a time of trial. The rocks faced such a fire before they were the strength beneath our feet. The plants braved vast winds, before their roots could give us life. As a Sage for considerable years, I have known only one such great ordeal. Yet the hero it created was a champion for all time.

Normal World

The day in Sandover had started wonderfully. The sun kept the village warm, the salty air moving with the wind and the green grass swaying gently with the breeze. Up at Samos' Hut, where, after Jak and Daxter had defeated Gol and Maia, a large Precursor Ring hovered at the end of a ramp and close to Keira's room on the lower level of the hut a Precursor vehicle sat.

Upon the Precursor Rift Rider, Jak stood, his long blond-green-root hair stood up, still as always defying the laws of gravity, his blue eyes bright and looking at Samos walking over to them. "Todays the big day Jak." he said, looking up at him, "I hope you are prepared, for whatever happens." his voice became grave and serious.

"I think I've figured out most of this machine," Keira said, her green eyes were excited and her teal-green hair was pulled into a loose pony tail, "It interacts somehow with that large Precursor Ring. I just hope we didn't break anything moving it here to the lab." she sat down along with the rest and smiled sweetly at Jak.

At that moment Daxter decided to wake up and he jumped between the two, "Easy for you to say!" he said, apparently hearing Keira's last sentence, "We did all the heavy lifting." he nodded toward himself and Jak.

Daxter saw something slightly pushed out of a slot and went to push the red-heart-shaped gem. "Daxter!" Samos yelled and Daxter flinched, pulling his arm back quickly. "Don't touch anything! Though the Precursors vanished long ago, the artifacts they left behind can still do great harm." putting a knowledgeable voice on in his small lesson. (A/N: You know, the kind that makes you fall asleep.)

"Or great good!" Keira countered, smiling, "If you can figure out how to use them!"

Samos nodded in agreement and said, "I've had some experience with such things. I know you can make it work."

Jak know he was talking to him and looked at the control panel. There were many buttons that could be pressed, but the gem that Daxter was about to push in seemed to be the one that caught his eyes. He put his hand next to it and stopped himself, unsure if that was the right one, he quickly ignored his thoughts and pressed the gem in. It went in without any complaint.

The rider started up and Daxter exclaimed, "Looks like Jak's still got the mojo." he sat back happily and relaxed again.

Keira leaned forward and looked at the egg shaped object that expanded. "Interesting." she whispered in awe, "It appears to be reading out some preset coordinates..." she stopped as it slammed shut and the three long pins on the back started to move.

The three long pins, that looked like it had a large spring on it, started to move in a circle. The one closest to the top ejected a flash of lightning and it hit the circle at the top of the ring. Then the ring started to move, and the inside of the ring became a warp and another bolt of lightning hit it.

"Wow!" Daxter sighed in awe, "Look at that!"

All of a sudden a monstrous voice said, "Finally! The last Rift Gate has been opened!" then large, flying metal like wumpbees started to come out and the sky became dark and the clouds moved faster.

Daxter screamed and yelled, "What are those thing?"

Samos looked around in awe, while the other were panicking and said, "So this is how it happened..."

A large monster started to come out of the rift and he looked around. He saw Jak and yelled, "You cannot hide from me boy!"

Keira looked at Jak and she screamed, "Do something Jak!" he looked back at her and raced through all his thoughts.

"What's this do. Or that? How about this one?" Daxter asked, pressing all the buttons randomly. "Everybody press all the buttons!" Jak got an idea and punched in the gem that started all of this.

The rider launched forward and toward the ring, they went under the monster and barely missed it. "What was that thing?" Keira asked, her hands white from holding the bar.

"Hang on everyone!" Samos yelled, his voice echoing thanks to the warp, and when he usually yells a lot of people usually hear him.

The took his advice and Daxter screamed. He looked at Jak and yelled, "I want off this thing!" The rider shook violently and a blast of lightning from the warp destroyed the rider, forcing the group off.

Keira screamed as she did and barrel roll in the warp. "Find yourself Jak!" Samos yelled as they all flew off in different directions.

It was a normal day in Haven City. The Krimzon Guard arresting people for no reason, no hope at all and people walking around aimlessly just trying to pass the time until they died. A rather normal day.

Notice that it was a normal day, that day suddenly changed when a flash of purple was seen, and for some reason a large, dark, shooting star came down. The people in the Industrial Section ran away from the load it carried.

In the 'star' was a young boy probably of the age seventeen and a small orange rodent. Jak got up first and looked around at the metal city that just landed in.

The rodent got up and yelled, "Okay, I swear," he threw a small iron rod out of his hands, "that's the last time I ever, EVER touch any stupid Precursor Crap!"

"There he is." a guard said, his voice was computerized from his mask, "Move in." a man not wearing a mask motioned the command. "Step away from the animal!"

Daxter stared up at them and screamed running between their legs. "Forget the rat!" the man without the mask yelled, as he noticed someone going after it, "The Baron wants him!" he smiled evilly as one of his men raised the butt of his gun to knock out Jak. "We've been waiting for you."

Daxter gasped as he saw Jak go down. He stopped and yelled, "Don't worry Jak! I'll save ya before ya know it!"


	2. No One Knows

**Risen Angel: Welcome back to the world of Jak. I welcome you to Prison. Have fun!!**

**Disclaimer: All Jak related things mentioned in this story all belongs to Naughty Dog. Bow down to the mighty creators of Jak and his friends. The characters Izo, Fang, Nyx, Buzz, Kane, and Hawk, all belong to me. You will meet them all in this chapter.**

**(line here)**

**Chapter Two: No One Knows**

Jak woke up in a cell, his hands behind his back. He wiggled his hands out of the iron that held his wrists and stood up. His legs almost gave out beneath him, but he caught himself. He shook his head and walked toward what he thought was a door.

He grabbed hold of the bars and looked around. "Well, well, well. Looky who decided to wake up." a male voice said from a cell across the hall, "Hey Nyx! Talk to it, see what it says!"

"Hey kid? You gonna talk?" another said.

"Shut up, Buzz!" one said, he seemed to be the one that was in charge.

"If you scum do not shut up, I'll kill you all!" a guard yelled.

"Oh, does our yelling hurt?" the prisoner asked, "Did you get drunk and stay up to late?"

"I said to shut up! And you should know better Nyx!"

"Har, har. I'm so scared." Nyx said back. "Why don't you show kid if you're telling the truth?" He pointed at Jak's cell and the guard looked in. "Where'd he come from? He doesn't look like a Havenite."

"We found him on the streets. The Baron wants all new citizens in Prison." the guard said. Jak frowned and thought that the name Haven, sounded familiar. "What are you looking at?" the guard asked, more or less yelling at Jak.

Jak stopped frowning and backed away. If anyone who knew him, knew that this meant he wasn't going to fight. "Did you hear me?!" the guard yelled. Jak nodded quickly and looked carefully at the gun strapped to his back. "Right?"

The guard went back to his post and ignored the prisoners. Nyx watched the kid carefully, he was unsure of this kid. He didn't seem to be the type to kill anyone, let alone be in prison, something didn't add up.

(line here)

Jak didn't even try to sleep, any time he did he saw his death. Slow, painful, and bloody. He eventually went to staring at the wall, a frown on his face.

When the lights kicked on in the hall, he stopped frowning, but stared blankly at the wall still. It sounded like a whole army was coming down, but it was just two or three men. They stopped in front of his cell and opened the door.

One man came in and pushed Jak to the ground, he didn't fight and he slipped on a pair of cuffs, locking them tightly. "You are getting a 'request' to be seen by the Baron." He pulled Jak up and forced him out of the cell.

He felt numerous sets of eyes on him as he walked down the hall, between the three men there. They led him to some room, after taking multiple turns and getting Jak lost through all of it.

The room was covered in safety padding. Jak became very confused as they walked him over to a corner. "Stay." they ordered, treating him like a dog. He did so, and slowly made him hands out of the iron, second time he was able to get out. He kept his hand in same position to make it look like he was still cuffed.

A door across the room opened, a large man came in, followed by the same man he saw yesterday. "So, Erol, this is our newest specimen. Are the other six ready for their tests?" he asked, staying a safe distance away from Jak.

"Yes, Baron Praxis. We need to test their Eco Resistance in each one. The highest one, we think, will be our warrior." Erol said, his face had an evil grin.

Baron Praxis looked at Jak with his one eye, it seemed that he could see just fine, even though his face was half covered with metal. "Start the tests when we leave. I want to watch."

Jak had an idea of what was going to happen, but it was just an idea. They said something about Eco Resistance. He smiled and had a strong feeling now that they were going to be using raw Eco. He had grown up on it. He knew how to use it.

The door closed and Jak walked out into the middle of the room, keeping his hands in the same spot. "You seem proud." Praxis said, over a loud speaker, "We'll see how proud you are with Eco."

Jak smiled again and he saw Green Eco come out of a tube. It was raw, the best kind to heal mortal wounds. He grabbed the Eco and it instantly was absorbed into his body, the head ache and bruise on his head disappeared.

Praxis was shocked by how he handled Eco, he watched the others as well, the only one who seemed to have the same talent as him was Nyx.

Blue Eco was twice as enjoyable to watch. Jak was able to use it when he wanted, to move fast or just to run. Jak waited for the las bit of Blue Eco to run out and he took a deep breath, allowing his body to slow down.

He waited for either Red or Yellow Eco to come. He started to become impatient and walked, not realizing what was going on. Jak flinched at a sudden pain in his throat. He grabbed it and gasped, the first audible word he had been able to say ever in his life.

Red Eco came down the tube and it landed on him. He absorbed it with out complaint and his voice box became protected. Jak gasped and fell to his knees. "What the?" he said, he voice cracking from him not being able to talk.

He stood up and saw Yellow Eco. Jak walked over to it and absorbed it quickly, he made a few fireballs out of it and then he did a little fireworks show.

Praxis clapped and looked at his little pet's charts. "They are over the charts? Is he our little warrior, Erol?" Praxis asked, ignoring the others.

"Sir, two have died." Erol said, looking at two of the rooms, "And yes, he could be sir."

"Which ones died?"

"Um, Hawk and I think Buzz."

"Start the test tomorrow. Have our little prodigy start first." he said and walked over to the elevator, "And put them all in the same cell. This should get interesting."


	3. All Hell Breaks Loose

**Risen Angel: Well, well, well... Uh, yeah, I'm stuck**

**C.P.: Try, 'Here's the next chapter'.**

**Risen Angel: But you just said it. (C.P. hits himself)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that is Jak related, I do own however Izo, Nyx, Kane and Fang. **

**(line here)**

Jak grunted as the guard shoved him into a cell. He sighed and crossed his arms. Four others were still alive, and out of how many including him that made five. He looked away from the others and sat down, in a corner away from the others.

One, the guy named Izo said, "I never handled all the Ecos, just green. I was never around it." he was completely shocked at how he could handle it.

"The Baron's using us Izo. Why can't you see that?" Nyx said.

"Chill out Nyx." Kane said, "I saw Yellow Eco fireworks, who did that?"

They all shrugged and looked at Jak, "Did you do that?" Fang asked.

Jak nodded and said, "I grew up on it."

Nyx stared at him and heard the cracking sound in his voice, probably from never talking before. "Were you a Mute?" he asked and Jak nodded, "Odd. Where'd you grow up? Haven doesn't have raw Eco like that."

Jak looked away and said, "Sandover."

They all looked at him oddly. "You're over 500 years old?" Fang asked. "But you're not even eighteen!"

"I'm seventeen." Jak said, apparently not getting it, "I was in Sandover yesterday."

"Shut up in there!" a guard yelled. They didn't argue with him and allowed sleep to take over. Nyx had a bad feeling about tomorrow.

(line here)

Jak woke up to the feeling of a gun in his neck and opened his eyes. His bum had gone asleep from sleeping on the metal floor in the sitting position. They pulled him up and clamped his hands in iron again, pushing him into the hall.

He followed them without complaint, if he was going to be here, then he might as well get used to it. They led him into a room that, on the door, had an Eco Hazard sign on it. He walked in and saw Baron Praxis was there and Erol.

"Well, since you didn't talk yesterday, I'm going to ask, my little prodigy, what's your name?" Praxis asked, trying to sound as pleasant as he could.

Jak remembered what Nyx said about how Praxis was using them. If he was right, then it wouldn't be a good idea to let them have his name. But they wouldn't believe him even if he did tell them. "Jak." he said, trying to keep his conversation with him short.

Erol looked at him, as if he was trying to read him. Jak shot back a look and the guards grabbed him. "Easy men. Well, Jak, you surpassed the Eco Test. Have you ever come into contact with Dark Eco?"

Jak backed away and then men behind him stopped him. "Dark Eco is not a toy. It kills." he said, remembering he crashed into one of the Dark Eco Boxes and he couldn't move for a week.

"You cure know how to use all the other types of Eco. You sure you haven't ever been able to use Dark Eco?"

"Dark Eco is unstable! If you use it on someone, that's called murder!" Jak yelled. He was terrified as to what Praxis was going to do.

Praxis gave a short nod and a man came out, he had a small piece of Precursor Metal, inside it, Jak could only guess. The man took Jak's arm and put the tube onto his arm. It clamped on and put something in.

Jak screamed and went to his knees. It was Dark Eco, probably about half of one of those boxes. "That's ten Eco Units Baron." the man said, taking the Precursor item off of Jak's arm. The mark left behind, was a five prong star, with a light grey tint and some purple covering over it.

Jak panted and glared up at Praxis. "Monster." he whispered and his breath became ragged. Praxis laughed and walked out.

"Take him back to the cell. Bring back Izo." Erol said, following Praxis.

The two guards grabbed Jak's arms and pulled him down the few halls. They opened the door and threw him in. He groaned as his body slid on the metal. Nyx pulled him up and away from the guards.

They grabbed Izo and slammed the door. "Kid, what did they do?" Nyx asked.

"Dark Eco." Jak moaned.

"Izo!" Nyx yelled and he let go of Jak, running to the door and slamming his fist.

Kane grabbed Jak and saw the mark on his arm. "What's your name Kid?" Kane asked, mainly because if Jak was going to pass out he might as well ask.

Jak looked up at him and said, "Jak." he let his eyes close and passed out.

Nyx looked back at them. Fang sat in a corner, rocking, looking down at the ground. He looked at Kane, he was putting Jak down, as gently as he could. Something was definitely up.

(line here)

The guards came back, but Izo wasn't with them. Nyx knew he was dead, and so did Jak. Jak looked away and watched as the guards grabbed Fang. Izo was the weakest, that was for sure, but what about the others? Were they going to make it?

And that's how it went for the rest of the day until Nyx came back. He snarled at the guards and sat down on the floor. "Well this is going to be Hell." he said and went to sleep.

Jak couldn't sleep. If he was going to be around Dark Eco this much then, he just might end up like Gol and Maia. He bent his head down and whispered, "Please Precursors, help me kill this man."

Fang heard him and said, "Well this is Hell, and now it's going to break loose. These next few months should be interesting."


	4. Where Are You?

**Risen Angel: Well here's the introduction of Keira, my friends. She is really new to Haven, trust me with this.**

**C.P.: Please just get on with it!**

**Risen Angel: Fine.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that is Jak and Daxter related. I do own however in this chapter Mai-Ann.**

**(line here)**

Chapter Four: Where Are You?

Keira woke up with a serious head ache. It was only day three. She found out that she was in a city called Haven, well it wasn't much of a haven, people were scared of their ruler, but they had to follow this dictator, or die. She climbed out of the ally she had slept in that night. Her back popped a few times from the uncomfortable position.

She walked aimlessly around the slums, the place she landed in. The city had three or four barriers, each blocking the person unless they had a security pass. She grabbed her stomach as it grumbled, from having no food. She wished Jak was there with her, at least to keep her company.

A group of formed in front of the Water Slums. She walked over to it and standing on a pedestal of some sort was a young elf. He was talking loudly and the group was encouraging him. "Where is that hero? Where is the man that saved our world from Dark Eco?"

Keira knew who he was talking about. She growled and walked off, anyone who cared knew she was mad, furious even. "The man who saved our world, vanished, when those damned Metal-Heads came." she heard the man said and she stopped. _We just went to the future? But this isn't Sandover, _she thought. Keira walked away and into a random ally.

She leaned again the wall and closed her eyes. She could feel hot tears forming and she blinked them back. It didn't work and she felt her tears run down her face.

She let herself fall to the ground and cry, but kept her sobs quiet. Keira couldn't believe it, if they went to the future there's no telling what time they all landed in, or if any of them are dead. She had a new set of sobs as she thought of Jak dead, here childhood crush, sure there were some other boys in the village, but she had loved Jak.

Her stomach grumbled and she cringed in pain. She stood up and fell back down. From having no food she had become too weak. "Come on!" she yelled and slapped the ground.

"Shh." a woman said, she walked into the ally and helped Keira up, "The Krimzon Guard are killing all homeless people. I want to help you."

Keira looked at her cautiously. "Thank you. Who are you?" she asked, trying not to prod out too much.

"My name is Mai-Ann. I have a house here in the Slums and I think that you are in the wrong place. Right?"

"Yeah. I came from a small village called Sandover. Do you know what happened?"

"I'll tell you everything once I get you home. You must be hungry." she said and Keira nodded vigorously. "Okay, well we might as well get going. It isn't that far."

Mai-Ann led Keira to her home, and let her in. Keira stood in the living room unsure of what she could do. "Sit. I don't mind. I'll be back with some food." Mai-Ann said, nodding toward the couch.

Keira sat down and could smell some food being made. Her stomach grumbled and she hoped that Mai-Ann didn't hear it. She came back with a plate and a sand-which. Mai-Ann handed her the plate and Keira instantly ate the sand-which.

"Would you mind if I ask what your name is?" Mai-Ann asked, "You you don't have to call me Mai-Ann, you can call me Mai."

Keira sat the half-eaten sand-which down and swallowed the mouthful she had. "My name is Keira. I', sorry if I can't help you with anything."

"Oh no, that's alright. I have more than enough money. Keep eating, I'll get your room set up." Keira nodded and ate the rest of the sand-which. Her stomach stopped complaining and she closed her eyes. Sleep started to peep through her and she yawned.

Mai came back and said, "Keira, your room is ready." Keira looked up at her and stood up, "I'll show you the room." Keira nodded and followed Mai into the hallway.

"Thank you again Mai. I don't think I could ever repay you." Keira said, sitting down on the bed.

"You don't have to. You can sleep and we'll get to know each other more tomorrow." she said, Keira nodded and laid down on the bed. The bed was soft, a lot softer than the ground she was sleeping on.

(line here)

Dream That Keira Is Having

Keira opened her eyes and could smell the ocean. She sat up and looked around, she was back in Sandover. Jak was standing near by and she could tell he was different. She stood up and walked over to him, hugging him happily.

He looked at her and returned the hug, but pulled away suddenly. Keira looked at him and saw how much he had changed. His hair was slicked back, instead of standing up, and his eyes weren't happy, they were filled with an empty abyss of hate. But she knew something was wrong.

"Jak, what's wrong?" she asked, but she was used to Daxter answering.

"Keira, I need to know that you love me." he answered her, "And don't question me for my reason."

"Of course I love you. I've loved you for a long time." she said and grabbed his hand.

He didn't pull away and said, "I'm going to die Keira. From an overdose of Eco. Don't try to say I'm wrong, because I know I'm right. The Baron is using me." he stopped and looked away. He slowly looked back at her and leaned down closer to her. Keira slowly realized what he was doing and felt him kiss her.

He started to pull away, but Keira pulled him back. Jak couldn't ignore her and kept close to her. "Keira, I need to go. You need to let go." he said, once her pulled away and he could look at her.

Tears streaked her face, he walked away and the wind blow. He started to disappear like sand blowing. Keira screamed.

(line here)

"Keira wake up!" Mai yelled, shaking Keira. She woke up reluctantly and felt tears on her cheeks. "Keira are you okay?"

She shook her head and said, "He's going to die." a fresh set of tears lining her eyes, "Jak's gonna die."

"Keira, who's Jak?" Mai asked, but Keira couldn't answer her. Keira took on a fresh set of sobs and laid back down. "Never mind. I'll ask later."


	5. The Fire Within

**Risen Angel: Uh, to make the story go faster, and trust me it will be a very long story, we are going to go through my time warp. Um, it won't be that much, and if I do go father then six months I might go insane. I have a hard time writing for two years of prison and pain especially when I won't cry!!**

**C.P.: She has no heart if you can't tell. I'm amazed she almost started to cry typing the last chapter. Uh... Onward!!**

**Risen Angel: You did it wrong!! (C.P. Shrugs)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that is Jak and Daxter related, it all belongs to the magnificent company called Naughty Dog. I do own however Nyx and Kane. You'll find out later what happened to Fang.**

**(line here)**

Chapter Five: The Fire Within

Six Months Later

Jak groaned as a guard hit him with his gun. The Dark Eco had taken it's toll on him, a very bad on at that. He had always feared that anyone who used Dark Eco would die instantly. At least that was how it was.

They had stopped using the Precursor item once they knew that the last four would live. They used now an instant Eco Injection, something one would use to help someone with. If, let's say, someone wasn't able to keep up with his body, they'd use either Red or Blue Eco, it didn't really matter between the two, as long as they got the job done.

Praxis was manipulating any new medical findings and using them of his 'Dark Warrior Project.' The effect of the Eco wasn't all bad, except for the scars and pain, now so they knew when the guards were coming, their hearing became more acute, like a croca-dogs, making it easier to hear where something was.

Jak could feel his body changing too. To pass time Nyx made everyone do pull-ups, push-ups or something to keep them strong. Besides a more definite body shape Jak could feel that his hair no longer stood on end, but fell back, his odd bi-colored hair showed more of his green roots, and since there were no mirrors he could only guess what his face looked like.

He crawled into his corner, looking at the bruise that the guard gave him. Of course it was where the last Eco Injection was, so it hurt like Hell.

Nyx limped over to him, Jak still didn't know what the middle-aged man was doing there, but Nyx had become a friend. "Jak are you okay?" he got a glimpse of the large bruise.

"I'm fine. It just hurts." he answered an cringed in pain as he put pressure on it.

"Let me see." Nyx said, lifting Jak's arm and looking at his side. He put his hand at the center of the bruise and felt a dip. "You have a broken rib. Lay down." Jak did as told and gritted his teeth. Nyx made sure that no guards were around. "This is going to hurt. Try not to scream." he ordered and Jak nodded.

Nyx moved his hands into the position that was right and pushed Jak's sides together. He closed his eyes as he heard Jak groan and was amazed that he didn't scream. "Jak, don't piss the guards off." he said and sat him up.

Jak nodded and leaned against the wall. Right now the guards had Fang. He was suffering from Eco Poisoning and it was just a matter of time before he was dead. There was a shrill scream and the three looked at each other. Fang was dead. He was the last on that day and he was done with the pain.

The Dark Eco was taking away their emotions day by day, each one was gradually gone. The first one was happiness. Jak couldn't remember anything from Sandover, except Keira, how wonderful she looked with the setting sun, or the grease from the zoomer she mad on her face and hands. She was always perfect.

"What are we going to do?" Kane asked. He had been extremely quiet the past few days. "It's not like we can just leave when they know it won't work."

"Are you that blind?!" Nyx yelled, "You're as bad as Izo was! Kane if it doesn't work, they're going to kill us. I know what they will do!"

"Like how? We've all told you our stories. Like how Jak was arrested for no reason. And me for selling Eco Drugs. Krew scammed me and and now I'm stuck in this Hell hole! What's your story Nyx?"

Nyx ran his hand through his shaggy black hair. He looked away and got an odd look from Jak. "Fine! I was an assassin here in the Krimzon Guard. My last job I didn't finish because I was ordered to kill a family. For no God damned reason. It made me think of..."

"Your family." Jak finished. Nyx looked at him and nodded. "That's how you knew how to fix my rib? Because you were forced to kill, like it was suicide?"

"Yes. I had gone to medical school, learned how the body works and used it against innocent people."

"What made you stop the job? An assassin never stops and tries to forgive himself." Kane yelled.

"You don't know anything!" Nyx yelled and the two came after each other. "Do you know how easy it would be for me to kill you?"

"Oh, probably so easy for such a trained assassin." Kan answered, his voice full of irritating sarcasm.

Nyx tackled Kane and they wrestled until four guards came. Jak stayed in his corner as the guards used a shock net to stop the fight. The fight stopped and they screamed as a few volts of electricity went through them.(A/N. Think about being shocked by ten electrical fences, ten different times) The net was more over Nyx and Kane got up. He glared at the guards and Jak thought he saw claws on Kane's hands. Jak stared blankly at Kane's hands and saw a small flash of Dark Eco. He tried to crawl further back into the corner but got no where.

The guards raised their shock net guns and fired at Kane. The nets all landed on him and he screamed in pain. "I suggest that you don't do that again." the guard yelled. He walked out and slammed the door shut, it locked immediately and became somewhat electric.

Jak stood up and walked over to Nyx. He took a deep breath and picked up the net, throwing it over to the wall. Nyx sighed with relief and looked over the scars.

"Help me with Kane." Nyx said and sat up. He crawled over to Kane and ripped off one of the nets, ignoring the buzz that went through him. "Jak, help."

Nyx looked at Jak and saw that the boy was looking at his hands. He seemed disgusted with his body.

Jak looked at Kane and then back at Nyx. Nyx saw no color in his eye, nor any white, it was like his pupil expanded to the width of his eye. He stood up and waited for Jak to make the first move. Jak back up to the wall and put his hands to his head, pure torture going through his body.

He removed his hands and Nyx saw that his eyes were normal. Nyx slowly moved over to Jak and tried to ignore Kane's soft cries of pain. "Jak? You changed." he said, getting Jak's attention.

Jak looked up at him and said, "We all have Eco Poisoning. We're all going to die." he gasped and felt a dam in his psych build. He was being forced to mature faster than needed. "You haven't changed ever, have you?"

"Not yet. Help me get the nets off Kane." Nyx answered and turned back to Kane. He closed his eyes and pulled the second net off. Jak simultaneously pulled the third. Nyx watched Jak as he pulled off the last net. "Kane are you alright?"

Kane gasped and whispered, "Dark Eco. The Dark Eco is changing me." he tried to stay awake, but he passed out from the electricity that had went through him.

Jak walked over to the bed and sat on it. "It's my turn." he said and laid down on the bed. Nyx didn't argue since it was Jak's turn. One bed, that was shared between three men now. That wasn't very fair, but they switched every night. Tomorrow it would be Kane's and he was going to need it.

(line here)

Jak woke up to the sound of metal boots. He sat up and noticed that the rib that Nyx had repaired was better, still sore, but better. Sleeping on the cot was much nicer than having to sleep on the floor. Nyx was awake as well and it was between the two, who would go first. Now that they were all more potent to Dark Eco, the injections took longer to complete each day.

The guards walked up to the door and opened it. The nets had long since run out of energy, the ones used last night at least. They saw Kane in one corner passed out, lucky him, then they traveled over to Jak. The guards grabbed Jak and he thrashed in their arms, they ignored his protests and pulled him across the cell and down the hall.

Jak noticed that the direction of where they were headed had changed. They took him to the main area of where the cells were, which was about 20-30 yards away from his cell. The normal hole where all the cells were, had a large platform in the middle. On the platform was a demented metal table, also a few technological scientists.

The guards had little problem getting Jak across the narrow walkway because of the initial shcok of the table. They threw him onto it and two scientists locked Jak's wrists and ankles to the table, with Precursor Metal.

Jak tried to pull his arms away from the locks, but he knew it wasn't going to help. He looked around and saw Erol come up the ramp. Erol had a smug smiled.

He took out a knife and twirled it in his had. "You have a lot of something." he said, unsure of what the something was. "But we're going to make you suffer, even if it resides to black-mail."

"You have nothing on me." Jak spat, eying the knife, that looked oddly familiar.

"Oh, but you see, your physical features... matches those of the warrior of Sandover. Maybe now you'll listen." Erol said, noticing that Jak became shocked at the statement, "So Jak, I do believe that this," he twirled the dagger once more, "belongs to you."

Jak recognized the knife immediately. Erol saw the exclamation and smiled. He gripped the handle and stabbed the knife into Jak's shoulder. Jak screamed and felt the Dark Eco that was infused in the blade.

"I see that even Sandover used Dark Eco. But then again, you weren't able to channel it, now were you?" Erol yelled and twisted the blade. He pulled it out and looked at the scientist closest. "Use the Precursor item again and put it over the wound. Don't disobey the orders!"

He walked off and smiled as he heard Jak scream from the Precursor item attaching to him again. "Oh yeah. That is sweet music."

Jak felt the Dark Eco fusing into his blood, which was probably why the scientist holding the item cringed in disgust. He closed his eyes and screamed, the Dark Eco starting to wake up the demon he had recently found.

The scientist left the table and the item was still pouring Eco into the wound. There was at least 200 Eco Units in it. That was a lot of Dark Eco. They all flinched as Jak screamed and it became more like a war cry.

The screaming stopped and the panting that Jak gave out was gravelly and it was pain filled. The scientist took the item off and the mark left behind was the same, a good thing considering that the Dark Eco was put in through an open wound.

"One hour of Eco Injection. Allow thirty minutes for refill of Dark Eco." a computerized female voice said. Two guards came and took Jak off the table. He groaned in pain as they walked him back to his cell.

Jak didn't bother to fight them, especially since he was not in the mood for a beating and he was tired. They opened the cell door and he walked in, ignoring the curious questions. He walked over to his corner and looked at the hole in his shoulder. It already had healed over, probably another damn trait from the Dark Eco. "Great." he moaned and allowed the darkness in his eyes take over. He faded into a dark abyss, filled with full on hate and death.


	6. The Abyss

**Risen Angel: Well, well, well... You have actually made it to chapter six. Well then, I didn't really expect anyone to make it this far, anyways. Hehe. While we are on the subject of torture, I would like to introduce you into the Baron's way of torture.**

**C.P.: If you are trying to be scary, it's not working.**

**Risen Angel: Oh, shut up. On Ward!!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that has to do with the fantastic characters of Jak and Daxter. I do own however, Nyx, Kane, and a new OC which will be introduced in about the fifth or sixth paragraph of this chapter.**

**Warning: ANOTHER SIX MONTHS HAS GONE BY!!**

**(line here)**

Chapter Six: The Abyss

Jak glared at the floor, a full year of Dark Eco had been pumped into him. Had it really been a year since he last saw Keira. It seemed longer. He looked out the door and saw a guard walk by. They had both Nyx and Kane out and he was the only one in the cell.

The guard looked in the cell and saw Jak in the corner. Jak pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them, wrapping his arms around them. The guard took it's helmet off and revealed that it was a she-elf. He looked at her and saw that she was opening the door.

He put up mental defenses as the female guard walked in. She stood in front of Jak and watched what he did carefully. Jak glared up at her and waited for something dreadful to come and meet him. She sighed and bent down, his eyes following her.

"What's your name?" she asked, "My name is Takita."

Jak watched the woman as she waited for his answer. "Jak." he said, looking away pointedly.

Takita looked at him and felt one of her pink dread-locks fall out of place. She ignored it and put a small hand on Jak's arm. He looked at her and growled. She kept her hand in place and stared him in the eye.

Takita heard Erol over her communicator and stood up. She put her helmet on and listened to her orders. She looked back at Jak and pulled out a pair of Precursor Metal cuffs. He watched as she walked back towards him and cuffed his hands together. "The Baron personally wants to see you." she said.

Jak glared at the ground and followed Takita down the hall. Three more guards joined them and made sure Jak couldn't run off, it was obvious that they were men.

The door that he was led to had the Baron's mark on it, which meant he was going to the palace. Takita opened the door and the five walked through. Jak got a good look as to what was going on in the palace. The way Praxis was treating the servants was terrible. Sure they had clothes, but the clothes were rags, unfit for them. And they were more frail than he was and he wasn't fed very much.

He felt a gun barrel against his back and he realized that Praxis was coming. Jak stiffened against the gun as the Baron's foot steps echoed through the hall. Praxis came up to Takita and nodded. She saluted and walked away, trying not to look at Jak as she walked by. Praxis looked at Jak and smiled, although if anyone was there that actually knew him, they would know it was an evil smile.

"Well, a whole year, huh? It must seem like it took forever to get through it. I'm going to ask you once and only once, and no matter what the question, you answer. Got it?"

Jak closed his eyes and said, "Yes."

"Good, good, good, very good. Well I guess the first question I should ask is, who did you love?" Jak looked away and shook his head. "No one huh? You must be a very lonely boy. Men, take him to the lie detector, make sure its working this time!"

They nodded and led Jak to the thing that Praxis was talking about. One pushed Jak into the dunk-tank looking thing and shut the door. It locked and Jak spun around, glaring at Praxis. "Give it a test run." he said. Jak looked up and saw a bolt of electricity come down. It hit him and he screamed as three hundred volts of electricity went through him.

"That is what will happen if you lie. There are a million censors in there to see if you are lying. Now, the questions." he said, a very unusual happy smile was on his face. "First question. Who do you love?"

"No one. I already told you that." he answered, glaring at Praxis. The sensors beeped red and electricity came down.

"I thought so. Next question, I already know you hate me, so this one should really bud you. Who is it?"

"No one that you know." Jak said, he braced himself for a shock, but none came. The sensors beeped green.

"Ah, you are very lucky. I do believe I need to change the rules. One more question and then you get a treatment." Jak glared at Praxis. This man was going to die, even if it was the last thing he did. "Let's see, ah yes-"

"Father!" a woman yelled, through Jak's eyes absolutely nothing was clear, it was all blurred. He leaned again the wall of the torture device and slowly passed out. "You are a monster."

(line here)

_Keira's Part_

She sat on the bench in the park close to Mai's house. So far, no job, which was driving her insane. Keira had already fixed the sink, doors, fridge, and anything else that was broken. Mai had made a joke and said that she could start a repair shop for the Slummers, but they both laughed it off.

Keira wanted to work on zoomers, there were so many and it looked like they came off of her design. Sure hers hovered, but her A-grav zoomer didn't fly, and the only way it kept moving was if the fan didn't jam up and keep spinning. She stood up and walked around, hopefully someone had a broken zoomer she could fix up.

Apparently the Precursors were being grateful today, because there was a zoomer giving someone trouble. Keira walked over to him and said, "Do you need any help?"

"Yes, but I doubt you would be able to help." he said and opened the small hood of the zoomer.

Keira huffed angrily and said, "How would you know? Now do you want help or not?"

She was giving him a choice, but was grateful that he stepped aside. "Go ahead. It's been giving me troubles for the past week." he said, watching her as her face disappeared under the hood.

Keira looked at the engine and saw a few bolts loose, but nothing that wouldn't make it stutter. She closed her eyes and looked back at her version of the zoomer. She reopened them and saw the problem. One of the anti-gravity rods was out of place. Smiling, she put it back in and the engine started.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"One of the a-grav rods were out. You shouldn't have any problems now." she answered and slammed the hood down, back away slowly.

"Do you want a job?"

"Uh, sure."

"My name is Marc and I compete in the JET-Board races, which is more or less just a skate park. So far, I've made it to the Class-3 competition and my boss needs a mechanic. Would you like the job?"

"Um, okay. But I don't have clearance to the Stadium. And my name is Keira."

"Well Keira, I have an extra pass, here take this one and meet me at the Stadium in garage four. We'll work out your contract and maybe we can win." Marc said excitedly.

"Okay then. Um, thank you. I'm gonna go now."

"See ya!"

Keira walked away and back into the park. Mai was at the pool staring at a little boy who was in the sand box. She walked up to her and said, "What are you doing?"

Mai looked at Keira and smiled. She looked back at the little boy and said, "Just watching, and waiting for you. Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Oh, and I have good news. I might be getting a job."

"Oh that's wonderful Keira! Congratulations!" they walked out of the park and back to the house. "What's the job?"

"A mechanic for at JET- Boarding team. I'm hoping I can help, especially with how high the taxes are this month."

They walked in and sat down in the living room. Keira looked away as she thought of Jak, she didn't even know if he was alive. "Keira?" Mai said, "Do you want to talk about him?"

"Mai, I miss him. It's been a year. I just-" she said and moved her hand to her pocket.

Keira pulled her hand out and held onto the item she pulled out. "You don't know if he's alive?" Mai asked and Keira nodded. She opened her hand and looked at the sea-shell necklace, the biggest one was a beautiful green pearl that a parafish spat up. "That's beautiful."

"Jak made it." she said and smiled, "It was a gift for my sixteenth birthday. Our birthdays were just a few days apart. The village would throw one big birthday party for the three of us."

"There's three?"

"Daxter, loud-mouth, flirt, and show-off, all wrapped up in a little ottsel. Jak's best-friend. Jak though, he was everything. A friend, like an older brother, but I think we both had different feeling for each other. He was a mute and couldn't talk to others, but those closest to him could understand through actions."

"You seem to want to talk. What else?"

Keira smiled and said, "I think the thing I liked about him the most was his eyes, they were as deep as the ocean, and as blue, and you could tell what his emotions were. I love him."

Mai-Ann giggled and said, "You sound like me, always going on about how dreamy my husband was and how perfect her was."

Keira smiled and looked at the necklace, Jak had given it to her on her birthday, but also with a note. She read it every night after that. But she lift the note in her diary back at Sandover.

Maybe if she knew where to find the place called Dead Town and find her journal, she could get some sleep. "I miss him. I want my Jak back."

Mai looked at Keira and whispered, "I'm sure you'll see him soon. Don't give up on him."


	7. JETBoarding

**Risen Angel: Okay, I'm really sorry for the late update, but my mom got rid of OpenOfiice, which was what my Chapter Seven was on, and I hadn't updated yet, so now I have retype Chapter Seven and try to do Chapter Eight. Ugh!! Why?!**

**C.P.: She's going to go insane. So let's just get typing.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing with the awesomeness of Jak and Daxter, I own however, Mai, Durante(you'll meet him in this chapter) and Marc.**

**(line here)**

Chapter Seven: JET- Boarding

Keira woke up a little earlier than she normally did. She quietly got dressed and pulled her hair back into a loose pony-tail. Her hair had grown a few inches, but she liked to keep her hair like that. Mai was also nice enough to get her a new outfit on her birthday. She now wore jeans that had a purple tint to them and white short-sleeved t-shirt, along with a pair of purple boots that she wore over her pants.

She picked up her security passes and left a note for Mai, saying that she was going to the stadium for her job. Keira walked out of the house and started walking toward the stadium section. The Krimzon Guard weren't out yet, except for a few that were on their last run.

It wasn't too hard to find the stadium, mainly because it was one of the bigger buildings, besides the palace, which was gigantic. Keira walked up the stairs to the garages and looked at the numbers. "Garage Number Four." she said to herself, walking up to the door. She knocked on the door and waited patiently. The door opened and an elderly man stood there.

"Do you need something? I'm very busy." he said, although old he could still make someone shiver.

Keira grew up with one of the most crankiest of people, her father, so she wasn't really off balance here. She took a deep breath in and said, "Marc told me to come here, if I was looking for a job. And sir, I do want a job."

"And why would I let a girl work on my team?" he asked.

"Because, sir," she said, full sarcasm, "I know more about machines than I'm sure most people do. So please sir, if you would reconsider your thoughts about me being a mechanic, I would greatly appreciate it."

The man nodded and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm very... impatient with my grandson sometimes. Anyways, why don't you come on in and we'll talk about your contract." Keira smiled and followed the man in. "Before we get to business, my name is Durante. And my team is called the Black Arrows. Kind of stupid right?"

"No sir. I like the team's name. And my name is Keira." she said and looked around. There was an area for the trophies, and most of them were third place and just a few were first place, but not many.

"Well, Marc should be up in two hours. Since there's a race today, I need you to fix up his Board. He was being dumb a few days ago and busted the control settings. It costs more to buy a new one and I just don't have time to fix it. So that's your certification. Two hours."

Durante handed her the broken JET-Board and added, "All the tools needed are in the cabinet." he pointed towards a large tool box. "Good luck." With that he walked out.

Keira sta the JET-Board down and slowly pried the cover off. "Let's see, if I disconnect the F-5 wire and connect it to the G-7 import, then it should reset itself and I can change anything else that is in the wrong spots or have been shocked." she said to herself.

She disconnected the F-5 wire and opened the G-7 port. Taking a breath in and sliding the wire socket it. Keira breathed a sigh of relief as the 'Board reset itself. The first thing she that was wrong was that the G-7 wire wasn't even connected to anything. She grabbed it and put it into the E-8 port.

IT gave a quick shake and started to hover. Keira smiled brightly and saw that one of the control panels by the foot was loose and not even connected to the control sensor.

(Line here)

After an hour-in-a-half of tinkering with Marc's JET-Board, Keira came to the conclusion that it was better than before. Durante came in when Keira was putting the top back on.

"You're done already?" he asked, walking up to the work shop table.

"Yeah. I think Marc and you will be vary happy. That and it can go ten meters/per/second faster and it can do more than before. Like better tricks." she said, using a rag to clean her hands up.

"Well then, I might as well get Marc up, so he can get ready. And your hired." he said, going up the stairs to his home.

Keira blined and sat down the rag, jumping up onto the work bench. She waited for Marc and Durante to come down. It didn't take very long because it sounded like a herd of some kind of animal was coming down the stairs. She smiled and looked at Marc, who made it out of the door first.

His hair was ruffled from him sleeping so late. "Your done?!"

Keira bit her lip to stop from laughing, mainly because Marc was wearing pink wife beater, that was orginally pink or he washed a dark wife beater and accidently bleached it, and a pair of boxers with rubber ducks on them. "I think you need to see a mirror." she said, trying to be polite.

"What?" he asked, she nodded towards his outfit, "Oh." Marc smiled and back away, "Uh, g-good work. I'm gonna go get ready." He bolted up the stairs and a door was slammed shut.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think he would be wearing that to bed, but apparently I was wrong."

"That's alright. When does the race start?" she asked and looked at the JET-Board, was everything based off her very first zoomer?

You can wait in the pit row, take this key and you have free access into the stadium. You can set it up to your liking and then by then the race should be ready." Durante said and looked up at the stairs, "You had better be ready!"

"I'm almost done!" Marc yelled back.

Keira took the key and walked over to the stadium entrance. She walked in and went over to their pit place. It was okay, but not exactly how she would use it if Marc came in.

She continued putting the equipment in the places that she would find them easily. She stopped and looked behind her, Marc wasn't there, but a man with red hair and a Krimzon Guard Commander Uniform was. "Yes?" she asked, and stared at him with an impatient look.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Erol, Commander of the Krimzon Guard and the reigning champion of the races that go on here in Haven City."

"Well Erol," she said, putting a sting on his name, "I'm very busy. So if you would please leave."

"Oh, of course. I was mainly wondering what a girl is doing in a garage?"

"Well, first of all, I'm no girl. Second, I am a very good mechanic, and I intend on staying. No matter how racist the man are in this city."

Erol gave her a look and scoffed at her as he noticed that Durante and Marc were coming and walked off.

Marc came up to her and asked, "He didn't bother you, did he?"

"Oh no. And you don't need to worry about little me, I can take care of myself. You need to get out there!" she said and put his helmet in his hands, "Now go!"

"Yes ma'am!" he yelped and grabbed his JET-Board and went over to the starting line.

"Wow!" Durante said in surprise, "You actually got him out there early. You are now my hero."

"No problem. I had to order my friend around all the time, because he was the only one who offered to help, that and he couldn't really argue."

"I see, well then, I'm gonna be over head watching, just motion for me and I'll come and try to help. The race starts soon."

"Okay then, I'll see you later then."

(Line here)

"Oh Mai it was so much fun, and we won! Oh I've never had so much fun before!" Keira said and giggled happily.

"I'm so glad Keira, now I can give a team to the slums to cheer for! They will enjoy watching the sport again!" Mai cheered and stood up, "I think we have something to celebrate. I'll be right back."

Keira watched Mai-Ann disappear into the kitchen and she sighed happily. "Jak would love this sport so much."

"Keira, I've had these four different wines for the longest time and today seems to be a great day for one of them. You choose what on we should have." Mai said, coming back into the living room and holding up four different wine coolers.

"Mai, I'm not legal."

"The legal age is 18, you are one year away and besides no one follows those rules anyway, no choose." she handed two to Keira and said, "One is Pre-Haven time, another is when Mar built Haven and it was first inhabited, the blue bottle is 30 years ago and the last one is when my husband and I got married."

"Let's have the blue bottle."

"Oh goody. That's a foreign wine. I had to go to the Black Market to get that. And that was at least ten years ago.

"Okay. Do you know who made the Pre-Haven wine?"

"Oh I think it was these two miners -."

"Gordy and Willard?!" Keira exclaimed.

"Yeah, those two. I think that once they got that giant gem out they found this really pure water and they used that with some berries out of the Mountain something or other."

"I'm glad they got the gem out. That thing was huge, but it was a very pretty blue."

"I think Mar had them put it in his tomb for safe keeping. Plus those two were very paranoid."

"Yeah, Willard didn't do anything and Gordy and his cute little parakeet did all the work." she said and sighed, she missed her home so much.

"Well then, these wines have matured a lot since they were made, so they should be very good." Mai popped the cork on the wine and poured it into the glasses, "Here's to a wonderful victory." she said.

The two women clinked their glasses together and drank the wine. "Oh it tastes really good. Almost like Mountain Berries. The juice inside is a switch between sweet and tangy." Keira exclaimed and giggled happily.

"Is the alcohol kicking in already? That must be pretty potent Keira."

"You said it was foreign. You should know."

"Oh Keira. You need to go to bed. WHich will be hard since you're so excited. You can watch tv and sleep on the couch tonight."

"Thanks. I wanna watch the re-run of the race. Erol can barely even JET-Board. It was so funny watching him try to do the tricks that Marc was pulling."

"I bet. Now sleep." Mai ordered and Keira nodded, already starting to doze off. "Good night."


	8. Just Like Him

1**Risen Angel: I am back from the dead!! Sorry I didn't have a real reason to update, until now. I realized that this story will take forever to finish unless I start typing now and try to finish the written part later on. So many chapters to be typed, I think my head will eventually spaz out and die. Let's get going.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Jak and Daxter franchise. That belongs to the awesome Naughty Dog!! All other characters belong to me.**

**(Line here)**

Chapter Eight - Just Like Him

Jak sat in the corner he had claimed as his, mainly because the bed had been taken away when the violent fighting had stopped. The three had stopped talking all together because it usually ended up with someone or all of them passing out from the blood loss. So many barriers had been made in their minds, so they didn't loose sanity.

But of course the beating never stopped, especially when Erol came in angry. They could tell when he was angry because the other prisoners were already screaming in pain. Jak tried to hide himself in the shadows of the cell as Erol came to their cell, but the lights turned on, blinding all three of them. The door opened and Erol came in, viewing which one he would torment first.

Jak felt his hair being pulled up on his head and got up, slowly to ease the pain. "Ahh, good lad." Erol said, his words were slurred slightly. Jak pulled away forcefully and tried to get away. His vision wasn't as good considering that his eyes were so used to the dark. Erol grabbed the scar on Jak's shoulder and dug his thumb into the skin.

He smiled and dug out the tender tissue. Jak grabbed the older elf's wrist and tried to pull out his thumb. "Get off!" Jak growled, digging his nails into the man's wrist. He kicked Erol in the shin and the elf let go. Nyx stood up after allowing his eyes to adjust and jumped on top of Erol, getting him off of Jak.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Erol yelled, and jabbed his elbow into Nyx's rib cage.

"You really are dumb. You infused Dark Eco into our bones, they don't break anymore." Nyx growled and smashed his fist into Erol's head. Nyx jumped off of him and rolled his shoulders back.

Erol stood up and pulled out his gun, shooting it at Kane, who was still passed out from his co Injection the bight before. Jak stood up and lunged at Erol, taking him down and hearing a gun shot go off. Jak punched Erol in the side of his face, making him black out. He looked at his body , trying to see if he had been shots far he was lucky, they had all found out that Yellow Eco does not mix well with Dark Eco, the hard way.

Jak looked at Nyx and saw that he had blood streaming out of his abdomen. "Nyx!" he yelled and ran over to him.

"I'll be fine Kid. Check on Kane." he said and leaned against the wall, holding the hole with both his hands.

Jak kneeled down next to Kane and saw the gn shot had been at his heart. "Kane!" he screamed, "Wake up!" Jak shook him quickly and tried to make him wake up. "Kane you have to wake up!"

"Jak, he's gone. There's nothing you can do."

"No." he whispered and shook his head, "Not again."

"Jak they're coming. Get away from Kane." Nyx ordered and pulled Jak away. "You do not belong here. What, in Precursors name, do they want with you?"

"The Precursors!" Jak exclaimed silently a"nd leaned against the wall, falling down to the ground.

Five guards came running down the hall and came into the cell, two helping Erol up and the other three keeping an eye on Nyx and Jak.

"I'm gonna kill those two." Erol said and tried to get out of the guard's hold.

"Sir, please come to infirmary to have your head checked."

"I want them to have triple the amount of Dark Eco injected into them! I'm gonna kill them with their own powers!" Erol yelled and was pulled out of the cell, albeit with a little more force needed.

Jak stared at the floor, his hair hiding his face. The three guards stood him up and gave Nyx a look when he gave a start to attack them. "He's just a kid!" he yelled at the guards as they pulled him out into the hall, shut the door and took him towards the eco injection area.

Jak knew better than to fight them on the walkway, they could easily shove him off of it, if he gave them any trouble. They forced him onto the table and locked him onto it.

"Where's the Count?" a guard asked.

"I'm right here. So how much Dark Eco has he asked for?" the cound said.

"The usual is 400, at the moment," one scientists said, "But Veger, Erol was yelling that he wanted three times as much on each."

"1200 Eco Units?!" Veger exclaimed, "What in Mar's Sake is he thinking?!"

"Sir the two attacked him."

"Because he lost the damned race and he got drunk. IT's his own fault. Still, if you think he can handle it, continue." Beger said and looked at Jak's face, he was snarling and his hands were curled into fists. "Start it."

Jak watched as the two scientists came and put the container on his bare stomach, the clamp breaking through his skin and making a hole for the eco. The Dark Eco went in quickly and he lunged forward. The scientists had to hold him down, while allowing the container to stay on.

His screams became gravely and soulless, while the eco went into his body. His skin became a grey tint around the hole and container and fangs started to protrude in his mouth.

Veger backed away and observed from the distance he was at, "How much longer?"

"Maybe another hour. The container is much slower, but it's the best thing we've got. Everything else was destroyed."

I don't have time for this. I was a detailed account of what happens." Veger said and walked away.

"Of course, sir" the scientist said and continued writing what was happening.

"He's just a kid!" Nyx yelled over Jak's murderous screams.

Yet the screams turned into war cries again, which made it unbearable to be in the room. Another hour passed and Jak's breathing became ragged and pain filled. The lights around him seemed to dimming in his eyes., after the last of the Dark Eco entered his body.

"1200 Eco Units, two house. Bio-analyse: nominal and unchanged. I suggest you stop, before the plan back fires." the computerized voice said, a sarcastic tone was in it and a couple of the guards snickered.

The three guards took Jak off the table and dragged him back to the cell. Jak blacked out as he was taken back to the cell. Nyx stood next to the door and caught Jak as they put him into the cell. They shut the door and Nyx laid Jak down on the ground. "Jak, wake up." he whispered and shook his head slightly, his palm hitting the boy's cheek softly. "You need to wake up."

Jak moaned and whispered softly, "Where's Dax?" he mumbled incoherently after that. "He promised to get me out of here."

Nyx stared at the boy and sighed, "Let him work it out. It won't be much longer." He said Jak up and pulled him closer to the wall.

"What's gonna happen to me Nyx? I wanna go home." Jak moaned and cringed, the metal vibrations from all over hit his sensitive ears. "I miss her."

Nyx looked at him curiously, "Miss who Jak?"

"Keira." he whispered and smiled faintly. This was the first time Nyx had ever seen the boy really smile, it was a sight to see. "I need to tell her something."

"Don't worry about it now. You'll get to tell her soon." Nyx said and saw the smile disappear, "Just try to stay up. Don't fall asleep."

Jak nodded and listened to the stories that Nyx was telling. Most of them were of tales while Mar's family were still in power, but some of them were when Sandover was still standing, stories that he could relate to. The ocean during a storm, that was the best time to be awake, watching the beach be swallowed by the angry water, but then come right back once the wave went back, but only to be attacked by another wave. They barely had a reason to want to have an army, but after the Gol and Maia incident the Mayor announced that he wanted to get every able bodied boy and man to join their new army. Jak never did, because he wasn't going to want that. Their home was perfect. There was no reason to want an army or say they wanted to fight. Now that he was looking back, it probably was a good idea that they started a resistance against evil, but they didn't last very long, the creatures that came probably took over whatever they could, attacking everything, destroying... everything.

He shook his head slightly and got rid of that thought, he couldn't think like that, not when he needed to be in a happy place to stay awake. He listened to Nyx again, hearing how his grandfather passed down the story of watching the sunset and rise here in Haven, there was a forest and it was the best place in fall to watch sunsets. The way the sun hit the falling leaves, and the aroma of the flowers and leaves around them. "That sounds nice." Jak whispered and thought of Keira.

He visualized her under the zoomer back home, her clothes stained with zoomer grease and her tools scattered around her. As she came out from underneath her face would be covered in the oil, but not enough for him to miss her beauty. She would grab the grease rag, the same rag that she had used so many times before, finishing off a project or cleaning off her hands and face, the rag would always leave smudges along her face, little marks along her cheeks and forehead, and a bright smile as she would finally see him and the black marks would be dimmed slightly by the blush on her face. He would help her up and then watch her start the zoomer, a face of slight hope, hearing the engine sputter made her quiver in fear. But then when the fan blades spun constantly for more than a minute her face was of pure joy. Her white teeth sparkled and the slight gap between the two front teeth made her all the more tom-boyish. But through all the tom-boy attitude that she had, she made him so happy, although he could never let her know. Now he could, oh how he wanted to let her know how much he loved her.

The vision was cut short quickly when the screams of another prisoner came to him. He jumped and looked at Nyx. The older elf was sitting across from him in the cell, and for some reason the cell seemed so much more larger than it was before. Maybe it was because of the sudden drop in life in it, but they have been in the same cell for the whole duration, the blood of the others was still in the walls and floors. Erol never had the blood removed. You would think that he would've especially for the mental reserve that they needed, but they didn't even care anymore, it was just one more thing that Erol didn't want to put up with. They looked at the door and watched Erol walk down the hall, not even looking at them, but a large bruise on his face showed that he did suffer from the punches that they threw at him. He was followed by two guards dragging a small boy, the boy looked like he was just barely thirteen. He wasn't supposed to be here, just like him. Jak looked away as the boy was pulled by, the innocent radiating off of him was painful. "Please, I didn't do anything!" he cried out and stared into their cell. "Please help me!"

Nyx saw Jak flinch and watched him as he wished that he could actually help the boy. "Just be glad you haven't killed anyone yet Jak. It stays in the front of your mind forever." Jak looked up at him and his eyes were black. "I know."

Jak looked around and scanned the area, the retreating steps of the guards pulling the boy made a large echo, the sound vibrating off of the walls and shaping the room. He blinked and the blackness returned to his blue eyes. He watched as another man came down the hall with their lunch. His mouth started to water when his mind went back to Sandover and he had a yakow steak every day. The man brought the lunch in, and for once there was still steam coming off of the food. He left and Jak looked at Nyx, there was enough to split it into thirds but with Kane gone, they both had more than normal.

Nyx nodded and he crawled over to the plate, splitting up the food evenly. Jak remembered when he had to watch Kane and Nyx fight, which ended up with none of them getting any food. The fight took place just after FAng had died. The only good part about the fight was that Nyx proved that he was splitting it up evenly, no matter how arrogant Kane was. Jak took the food happily, savoring the taste and hearing his stomach gladly accept the food.

They ate the food in silence, and they stared at the floor once it was all gone. Jak leaned against the wall again and closed his eyes. Sleep starting to take him and he fought against it. "Nyx?" he asked drowsily.

"Don't fall asleep!" Nyx yelled. Although he failed because Jak had already fallen into the drugs trap. "Jak!"

(Line here)

He slowly woke up, it felt like he was asleep for two whole weeks.

"Ah, it's about time you woke up. It has been two weeks since you fell asleep." a voice, which was irritability familiar. Jak looked at where the voice was coming from and glared at him. "Do you know what you ate?"

Jak went to lunge at him and found that his arms and legs were locked to the wall he was held to. "What did you do to me?" he asked and watched as he walked back and forth in front of him, or maybe even floating.

"Jak, you insignificant boy. I'm amazed that you haven't changed, like Gol had."

"Get to the point Erol."

"You are going to be just like him. You might as well accept it."

"I'll never become him."

"Oh, but you see Jak, you already have. All you have to do is look inside yourself. It just takes the right motive. You just need to help us."

"Why the hell would I help you?"

"It's called black mail, my dear friend." Jak rolled his eyes, "That and we can kill you just as easily."

Jak glared at Erol and felt claws grow on his hands. "I'd rather die than help you." he growled and closed his eyes, feeling his newly found fangs grow I his mouth. Eorl watched in awe as he watched the boy's skin turn a deathly white and as as the young elf opened his eyes and he saw the black eyes that showed the abyss of hate and revenge. "Ad oylr vdyhmto. _Go fuck yourself._" he growled in the ancient tongue.


	9. Welcome To Hell

1**Risen Angel: Hahahahahahaha!! I think that is all that needs be said.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the game Jak and Daxter, that once again belongs to Naughty Dog!! All other characters belong to me!!**

**(Line here)**

Chapter Nine - Welcome To Hell

Jak sat in the corner of the cell, not moving from the fetal position and holding the gun shot wounds on his arms. They needed him alive, instead of using Yellow Eco, they used red. He couldn't remember anything from the past two weeks. What he didn't understand was that Nyx wasn't there, how was he supposed to get through the day, through the pain, through the loneliness.

He also hadn't had a Dark Eco Injection in more than two weeks. If he ever fell asleep, all of the dreams he had were full of bloodshed, all of it was done by a monster that looked oddly enough, like him. Every time he saw the face he screamed, waking up every other prisoner. He still Nyx's advice and tried not to sleep ever. If he ever did sleep, it ended with that dream and he spent the rest of the days doing pull up, push ups or sit ups, trying to keep his body in the best shape.

It finally took Erol three weeks to come back and taunt him. Jak stood up and glared at him. "Where's Nyx?" he growled.

"Still asleep. He lasted so much longer you did. We had to use shock nets to make him go into the same coma you were in. But then again, you were asleep when all of his pain happened, he wouldn't even let us come near you. You have a loyal friend, probably more loyal than your other friends, I might add."

Jak curled his hands into fists and panted with anger. "My friends are loyal. At least to me."

"Then where are they?"

Jak looked away and saw that Erol's hand was residing on his gun. "Stay away from me."

He picked the gun up and out of the holster, looking at the switches on it. "Now why would I do that? You are a monster. Something to torment. You are a weapon!"

"Shut up!" Jak yelled and his eyes flashed to the black pits of nothing.

Erol laughed manically and walked down the hall. An ear splitting scream echoed through the halls of the prison as a female prisoner had received the death sentence. Jak stared with fury at the wall across the hall, he had had enough of Erol's tyranny. Did he really have the gull to go up against the Precursors and Fate? Jak's stare turned into a glare and he grabbed the bars on his cell. "You're gonna die Erol! And when you do, you'll regret ever creating a demon!" Jak yelled, his voice carrying down all the halls.

The bars on his cell became charged with electricity, he didn't move his hands and felt his skin burn from it, his heart jumping every few seconds. He closed his eyes and heard a memory of Samos saying to 'Let go,' his loud voice was yelling this, so it sounded like he was right there. Jak let go and looked at his hands, the Dark Eco was healing the wounds he had recieved. "Damn you Erol!"

Jak closed his eyes and waled backwards, further into the cell. His back reached the wall and he sunk down to the floor. He panted as he planned his escape. He couldn't last much longer and Daxter was his only means, unless Takita helped him.

He looked at the door and saw a guard stop at the cell. She took her helmet and revealed the pink dread locks. "Jak, please don't do anything rash. Just ignore Erol. He can't afford another mistake."

"Why would I want him here anyways?"

"Because he's what's keeping you alive!" she snarled and Jak could tell that she was a descendant of Yellow Eco. "The more you piss him off the more Dark Eco you will get. Don't be surprised if you get one today."

"Fine, it just gives me a good reason to rip his eyes out."

"Give it up." Takita said, "You can't fight this anymore."

"Why would I do that?" Jak asked and stood up. "I'm already dying. I'm gonna fight till I die." Takita sighed angrily and put her helmet back on. "I will keep fighting, until both or all of them are dead."

"Well then welcome to hell." she said and marched off.

"Thanks for the late introduction." he said and in a growl. So Takita was out, unless she changed her mind.

(Line here)

**Risen Angel: Sorry for the really short chapters, but it just sort of pushes the plot along. Just go with it. Remember R&R!!**


	10. I Promise

1**Risen Angel: I'm back. Short chapter I know was last time, but this one is extremely long. Like murderous. I have a new favorite band. POP EVIL!! Go Michigan Bands!! Yay!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Jak and Daxter game, it belongs to Naughty Dog. I own everything else that has nothing to do with Jak and Daxter.**

**(Line here)**

Chapter Ten - I Promise

SIX MONTHS LATER

Nyx watched as Jak paced on his side of the cell. He still couldn't believe that neither of them had a Dark Eco treatment in over three months. He could tell that something normal was happening, they were running out of eco, the whole city ran on eco, all of the Dark Eco, the most powerful eco to make a city powered is being used on test subjects, the other ecos are just moving it along. But Jak also had a good reason. Erol was waiting for them to crack. It was just a matter of time.

Jak stopped pacing and sat down on the hard metal. He closed his eyes and tried to think of Sandover. His home. He needed to get back. But he couldn't remember all of it. He barely remembered his own Uncle, the man who raised him, along with Samos. He hardly remembered Sandover. He could just barely picture the village layout. But he was positive that his home was destroyed, everything was sure to be rubble.

"Keira," he whispered to himself, "please be safe."

Nyx heard Jak's plea and thought about his wife, their daughter was going to be twelve this year. His baby girl, she was growing up.

(Line here)

Keira woke up to a stiff back, she had been working on a zoomer late last night and her back was already hating her today. She pulled the covers off of her and finally heard the male voices yelling at Mai. She stood up and walked to the door listening quietly.

"Where is she? We know she lives here!" one of the voices yelled.

"I am the only one who lives here. Now once again, I will ask. Will you both please leave my home?" Mai said, her voice was rising ever slightly, but not in a 'scared' tone, more in a 'you-had-better-listen-to-me-or-you'll-regret-it' tone.

"We will not leave until you allow us to look in your home for this woman."

"Why do you want her? I have a reason to know why you are looking for her if you want to search my house."

"Ma'am please. Just do this for us."

"Fine. Go ahead." she said and Keira grabbed her house coat, there was no reason for them to see her in a loose t-shirt and short shorts. She tied the rose around her waist and watched as the door opened.

"That's her." one said.

Keira smiled and asked, "What do you want?"

"Uh, we were ordered to take you to see Commander Erol for questioning."

"No, you weren't. What you were ordered to do is to take me in and have me sit and wait for Erol. What Erol really wants is for me to be on his team and drop the Black Arrows. That and he just is 'lonely'."

"Yeah." the other said.

"Well, give him this message for, especially since I'm not going to." she said and smiled sweetly, the smile turned into a death glare and she added, "He can go screw himself. I'm leaving the Black Arrows and I'm not going to lower my standards, just for him."

"Of course." they said together and walked out of the house. "Thank you Mai." one whispered, just loud enough for Mai to hear him. She nodded.

Mai shut the door behind them and waited for Keira to come out of her room. She walked out and smiled at Mai-Ann. "Well that was a very different morning." she said brightly, "Do you want breakfast?"

"Mai, don't hide this. Tell me what you were thinking when I said that." Keira said, gently taking her by the arm.

"I thought that you meant it. You are seriously taking the Black Arrows as if they are family. That and you were supporting Jak. My dear, don't give up on him. He won't be much longer. Just trust me."

"Okay. I'll stay waiting, Mai. But I won't forever, and my hope won't die."

"Good girl." Mai said and walked into the kitchen, making breakfast for the two of them. "Hey Keira?"

"Yeah Mai."

"Isn't the Grand Championship Race in two weeks?"

"Yeah. Marc hasn't leaf his JET-Board. I'm starting to think he's superstitious." Keira said happily, "But I feel bad for Durante."

"Why?"

"He won't be around much longer. He's already broken his hip this year. Marc's gonna take it the hardest."

"Keira, if Durante dies soon, then know it was his time. It wouldn't of been anyone else's fault and if Marc blames himself, then you have my permission to slap him silly."

"Okay Mai, I'll take that to heart."

(Line here)

Later that night Durante was closing up shop, making sure all the glass cases were locked safely and all their tools were locked properly. He shut the garage door and locked it. He stopped walking when he was about ten feet away from the exit. Durante spun around and saw the glint of a weapon. "Who are you?" he asked.

The man in the shadows smiled and raised the poison arrow he had. Black Shade came in handy. It would leave no traces of the poison and he would die of a heart attack. He fired the arrow at Durante and it struck him in the chest.

Durante fell to the ground on his back and struggled to get a breath. His hip broke again and he groaned in pain, the iron rods protruding in his old muscles, and by the odd contortions that the old elf was in it seemed that his lower spine was broken. The man walked out of the shadows and said, "'Night old man." Durante exclaimed his eyes and mouth the elf's name. "Yeah. It's me." Erol said and waited for the old man to die.

Durante died quickly, from the Black Shade, and the two broken spots made the death all that more quicker. Erol took out his communicator, pressed a few buttons on it and said, "Call an ambulance. I've just found a dead man, probably from a heart attack, by the Garage Four entrance. Immediate assistance is required."

"An ambulance will be there shortly, Commander Erol." a woman said over the communicator and Erol took the arrow out the dead elf's chest. He smiled and waited for the ambulance to come.

(Line here)

"Keira!" Mai yelled from the living room, "Come quick!"

Keira ran out of her room and asked, "What?"

"Durante's dead."

"What?!" she screamed and fell to her knees. Her hands went to her mouth to cover her cries. They just talked about what would happen if Durante died last night. The Precursors are cruel beings. "No. Has Marc called?" Mai shook her head. "I have to go see him."

"Not in that." she said and nodded toward Keira's pajamas.

"Mai, I'm not dumb." Keira sighed and went to go get changed. She came out quickly and rushed out the door.

Keira ran to the stadium, she was sure that Marc would be up, especially since Durante wouldn't be there to wake him up. She went into the garage and didn't see Marc there. She walked up the stairs and heard a grieving cry. Keira walked into the flat and saw Marc in the living room, on his knees crying uncontrollably. "Marc." she whispered and sat down next to him, hugging the crying elf.

"He's really gone." he said between louds sobs. Marc turned to her and hugged her back, crying into her shoulder.

Keira didn't know what to say to him. She didn't have any words for someone grieving, she barely had any words for herself. "Don't worry Marc, I'm still here."

She let him cry, what else could she do. It was around noon that he stopped crying and finally said that it was his fault that Durante was dead.

"Marc!" she screamed. He visibly flinched, "It was not your fault! Don't you dare go on and blame yourself, especially when it was just his time." Marc looked at her with a shocked look. "We'll just have to find a way around this, alright." He nodded numbly at her and stood up, walking over to the kitchen.

Keira followed him and she heard him mumble, "I just want something to go my way. Is that so much to ask."

She touched his arm and he looked at her. Keira smiled at him and siad, "I'll stay over until things are better for us, okay?"

"Yeah." he answered, "That sounds like a good plan."

"I just have to go back to Mai-Ann's to pick up some stuff, okay?" she asked again and he nodded at her, "Okay, I'll be back."

(Line here)

For the past two weeks Keira had spent all of her time at Marc's, to keep him afloat of all the despair he had been going through and to start building the time rider that brought her to this horrid city. Because Durante had ties with some 'interesting' people, she got most of the items immediately. During the two weeks Marc had asked her multiple times what she was doing in the garage. But she always answered with a "You'll see."

As always Keira was up before the Eco Lamps went out and was getting Marc's JET-Board ready for the race. There were no complications with the board, but she wanted to be sure. Erol was going to be in the First-Class Championship Race, just because he was the reigning champion. That and the past two weeks had been good practice for Keira to train Marc to get up earlier.

She put his board back into the safety lock box and punched in the code to lock it. Keira walked over to the curtained area and looked at the half built rift rider. She looked at the clock on the wall and said, "Marc will be up in two hours. That gives me an hour and a half to work on this."

While she was putting the rider together, her mind ran back to Durante's funeral, well cremation. Marc was in the bathroom, crying the whole time, he couldn't see to his grand father's remains being burned into ashes. Keira stayed with Marc in the uni-sex bathroom, making sure he didn't do anything rash. She fumbled with her wrench as she remembered what the pastor had said when Marc was still stable. "A great man. One who's ties with 'interesting' people kept him ahead of all who was in the race of life. He was, a truly great aspect to the Precursors."

Keira flinched as she heard herself yelling at him, "The Precursors use people. You say that he was an aspect to them, but he, along with all of us, are just a bunch of pawns, including you."

From the way that Marc acted as soon as the flames were lit over Durante's body, it looked as if he was ready to die. He bolted out of the room and the few people there heard the cries of despair. Erol had been there and it took all of the power she had to hold Marc back from accusing Erol of killing is grand father.

Keira shook her head and got rid of the thoughts, there was no reason for her to swell on the past. She looked at the unfinished project and sighed. "I won't get anything done with this on my mind." she whispered and got up from the ground. Keira looked at the solar clock and gasped.

"Hey Keira!" Marc exclaimed and ran into the garage. "The race starts in thirty minutes, where's my board?"

"I'll get it." she called back and unlocked the safety box and grabbed it. "I have it. Here you go." she handed him the JET-Board and he gleamed in joy.

"I'll be on the track. The Stadium is totally packed. If they get over excited, you wouldn't be able to hear even a gunshot." he exclaimed and jogged off.

Keira followed after him and shut the garage door, locking it, just to be safe. She ran down to pit row and put on the communicator. Marc had his on and he was going a hundred words a minute with excitement. "Marc settle down. It's my first time getting up here too." she said and he finally quieted down.

(Line here)

Keira jumped up and down as Marc passed Erol on the last lap and pulled off a double-front-flip, adding twice as many points to the score they already had. Erol fumbled and looked up at a pillar, he gave a smug smile and nodded.

The person who recieved the nod pulled out a silenced-laser-scoped-rifle. Not that he would really need it. The crowd was going crazy as Marc came to the last corner. He pointed the laser at Marc's back and followed him, taking a quick and extremely accurate shot at him.

Marc flew off of his board and landed next to the wall, his board coming at him. "Shit." he cursed quickly and the less blunt side of the board pierced his stomach, pinning him to the wall.

Erol flew by him and smirked, crossing the finish line. "Keira!" Marc yelled into the mouth piece.

Keira gasped and pressed the medic button, running out onto the track. "It seems we have an emergency out on the track. Racer for the Black Arrows has called out for medical attention." the announcer said, "Get a camera panned over there. Oh my God! Marc's JET-Board has pinned him to the wall. Get a damned medic out there!!"

A team of six medics ran out onto the track, along with a smaller team of fire-fighters. Keira beat them to Marc and the two toned out of the commentary. "Marc! Oh my Precursors, Marc!"

"Hey, I'll be fine." he said, his voice cracking from the strain and blood started to appear in his mouth.

"Please move for a few minutes, ma'am." one of the medics said and they got a closer look. The crowd around them was silent, only a few whispers and maybe a few rumors floating around. The woman sighed and said, "If we remove the JET-Board he'll die almost instantly."

Marc looked at Keira and grabbed her hand. She crawled over to him and gasped, "Marc. Oh my God. This can't be happening."

"I know Keira. I need to tell you something." he said and she nodded, tears spilt down her cheeks. "I want you to get Erol. You know he did this."

"We don't know that." she whispered back.

"Well then, at least figure out who did it. Promise me." he said and gave her a heart breaking look. She nodded and scooted closer to him, his strength breaking. "You have to promise me."

Keira choked back a sob and nodded. She came closer to him and kissed him on the forehead. He put both of his hands onto her head and kept her next to him. "Make Erol suffer." he whispered.

Keira back away slowly and his hands fell from her face, she nodded, "I promise." As soon as she was out of the way, the medics started to pry the board out. Keira stared at him and jolted from a sob. Marc gave her his final pleading look. "I promise." she whispered and walked off the track. She was dead afraid to look back and see him dead. It was like losing everything she had all over again.

(Line here)

Keira sat in her bed at Mai-Ann's. She was in so much grief. She could barely even go to the garage and even work on her project.

"Kera, get up." Mai-Ann said and stood over her. Keira buried her face in the pillow and sniffed. "What would he say, if he saw you like this? Either of them. Marc, Durante, or even Jak?"

Keira's heart skipped two beats when she heard Jak's name. She moved her hand to her heart and clenched her fist. "It's not fair. I want him back." she whispered and a new set of tears came forth. "I want my Jak back."

Mai sat on the bed, put her hand on Keira's shoulder, rubbing it gently, whispering, "Have faith in him. I know I've said it before, but you just have to wait for him He will be here. Sooner than you know."

"I hope you're right." she whispered and fell to sleep with tears running down her face.


	11. A Taste of Your Own Medicine

**Risen Angel: Sorry for the really long break! I didn't mean to forget about this story, it's just that I haven't had any real umph to go and type it. That and I'm preeetty sure that I typed this on the other computer and it just won't work out right now. Anyways… Onward!!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original character, they belong to NaughtyDog, the character that I made up, belong to me.**

Chapter Eleven - A Taste of Your Own Medicine

"Let me go! You sonsof - " Jak yelled as he thrashed in the hold of the seven Krimzon guards holding him down and locking him in chains to transport to go see the Baron.

"Shut your mouth!" one yelled, her voice was extremely familiar to Jak and he stopped moving. She watched as they stood up him and faced him to her. Takita pulled off her helmet and glared at him. He sneered at her and waited for something to happen, he never changed his look as Nyx tried to break through the guards hold on him. Takita pulled her gun out and grabbed Jak's head, placing the gun under his chin, Nyx growled and lunged toward her. "Make one more move and I'll blow his head off! I got this job because of what I do. Now if you do make another move like that I will personally pump you to death with Dark Eco!"

"Why are you doing this Takita?" Nyx asked and shook off a guard that was holding his head.

"Because it's my job. You hurt us all Nyx! Especially me!" she screamed at him. "Take him to the Baron." Takita nodded at Jak and waited for them to leave. "You ten can leave too. Trust me, he won't hurt me at all."

The ten left slowly and completely confused as Nyx did not attack her and she didn't make any move to attack him. They left and she put her gun away. "Takita, do you think I did what I did for no reason?"

Takita licked her lips in a nervous way, she walked up to him and stared him in the eyes. She clenched her hand into a fist and punched him in the face quickly. He kept his head in the same direction and flexed his jaw. "You threw your life away. You threw both of us out your life!" she cried out.

"I was forced to kill a family, god damnit! Do you know what that was doing to me? We had just started a family. I got away with it for a year-in-a-half. You should be grateful you weren't an assassin Takita!" he yelled at her and looked her in the eyes, she was fighting tears.

She bit her lower lip and tried to stop it from quivering. Nyx took her upper arms in both of his hands and she lost the fight with her tears. Takita stared at him and he kissed her fiercely, making sure she could feel him. She barely put up a fight with him and kissed him back, her lightly armored body pressed up to his and she grabbed a handful of his think hair, to keep herself in the kiss longer. She cried into his mouth and he pulled away, holding her to him. "Takita." he whispered and held her tighter. Takita wrapped her arms around him and held herself to him more.

"I can't do it anymore Nyx. I can't lie to her anymore. I can't tell her that her father is dead anymore."

"Then don't." he said and made her look at him. "Bring her here. I want to see my little girl again Takita. I don't even see a picture of her any more honey."

Takita touched his face and rubbed the palm of her smooth hand against his rough facial hair. "I promise, I'll bring her in tonight." she said and tried to back away.

Nyx kept her where she was and asked, "What does the Baron want with Jak?"

"I have no idea." she paused and looked up at Nyx, "He's like a son to you. Isn't he?"

"Yeah. I need to know what's going on Tak. He missed his teenage year. He is forced to grow up. It isn't fair. Someone else needs to watch over him, and I intend on doing that."

"I'll try to figure out more Nyx."

Takita walked away and he stared at her back, "Takita?" she turned back to him, "Did you mean the threat?"

She shook her head and said, "I was mad. Nyx, I love you. I promise I will bring her in tonight. She really wants to know who her father is Nyx. You deserve to know her too." Nyx nodded and watched her walk out the door and shut it with a heavy heart.

"I'll be fin Takita. Don't worry about me." he said and touched her face through the bars. She nodded and walked away.

* * *

Jak growled at the Baron as he walked down the steps from his 'throne'. "Well, well, well." he said and smirked at the fact that Jak was held together with chains. "I think that look suits you very well. Since I never got to finish my interrogation, I'm going to do it now." he nodded once and two guards pulled Jak to the wall, locking another chain to the ones he had and to the wall.

Jak tried to break away from the cahins and failed. "Pure Precursor Metal. Painted silver." Praxis said and walked up to him, coming with his grasp just barely. "Since you passed out from the electric shocks, I do believe that to make you tell the truth, we'll pry it out of you, with pure torture. By whatever means necessary."

Jak growled through his teeth and glared up at him. Praxis smiled and pulled out the dagger from his past. He paced in front of Jak and said, "Oh, but if only history were false. Was her name Keira?" Jak's face went blank and all of his tenseness left. Praxis laughed and twirled the dagger in his hand.

He looked at the door and Nyx was pulled in by ten guards. Praxis walked over to him and said, "So is his little girlfriend named Keira?"

Nyx spat at his feet and said, "I won't tell you anything, you sadistic bastard."

"Well that's so sad. Bring them in." he ordered and another set of doors opened, this time Takita was being brought in with a girl walking next to her. Nyx stood up right, looking at the small girl, she looked just like his, except she had pink hair. Just like her mother. "Well Takita, I'm so glad you brought in your daughter."

"It's not like I had a choice.: she said back, grabbing her daughter's shoulders.

"And what's your name little girl?"

She signed her name. "Her name's Nykki." Takita said for her.

"What's wrong with her?" Praxis asked forcefully.

"She's mute." Jak said and they all looked at him. Takita nodded.

"I thought all mutes were killed?" Praxis asked, looking at Takita.

Nykki humped silently and signed, Takita translating, "Just because I'm mute does not make me dumb. Besides, you should know better, your own wife was mute."

"Why you little - "

"Temper Baron Praxis. I'm not defenseless either. You would attack a twelve-year-old just because she brought up the unwanted past. That's just sad." Nykki smiled and signed to her mother, "Who are they?" she pointed towards Nyx and Jak.

"Nykki, he is your father." Takita said nodding towards Nyx.

"Why does the room smell of Dark Eco?"

"You'll understand later. Trust me."

Nykki nodded and walked past Praxis, leaving him dumb-founded and toward her father. She motioned for the guards to leave and they did, but stood close by. Nyx smiled, with tears streaming down his face. She put her hand to his face and wiped away the tears, as if to say, 'don't cry. Everything will be alright.'

Nyx looked at Nykki with a proud face, she was his little girl, no one was going to take that from him. Nykki smiled back at him and hugged him, her arms encircling his waist. He wanted to pick her up and hug her in return.

"So sentimental." Praxis said, he was standing next to Jak now. "But I do fear that someone's time is going to run out."

Jak growled at him and in the ancient language said, "Vdy hfmker kh co vdy idtb xim rmv xd ktt tcom. C ndytb nctt gmxygq xd qdgzkt. Dqtv xim Fgmlyghdgh ikjm xim fdumg xd liddh tcom kqb bmkxi. _You speak as if you hold the key to all life. I would like to differ. Even you will die, and then the world will return to normal. Only the Precursors have the power to choose life and death._"

"Stop talking jibberish." Praxis said and looked at the four to choose from. He couldn't afford to lose his Dark Warriors, so that only left two to choose from. He also noticed that Takita was alone. No way that she could see it coming. Praxis threw the dagger at Takita and it went into her bare stomach.

She fell to her knees and Nyx broke the near indestructible metal they had for him. He bolted for her and Nykki followed. "That blade has Dark Eco in it Nyx!" Jak yelled.

Nyx pulled the blade out quickly and put pressure on the wound. She wasn't going to live now, her life was fading still. Nykki was crying and tears were spilling out of her eyes. "Nyx." Takita gasped and took his hand off of the wound. He shook his head and watched as she faded quickly.

Nykki held onto his arm with completely silent cries taking over her. Nyx let go of his wife's hand and put Nykki closer to her. He stood up and faced Praxis.

Praxis shook his head and guards overpowered Nyx quickly. Nykki stood up and signed, this time Nyx translated - as if some magical power had taken over him, "You are going to pay Praxis. You just wait." she glared at him with almost black eyes, her eyes were such a dark brown, "The tables have turned." Nykki's eyes turned a ghostly white and continued, "This act you've pulled will cost you greatly. They are not pleased. Just ask Veger who 'they' are. You will understand soon. Now is not the time for a… idiot… to be on the throne. Especially when that idiot… is a dictator."

"You little brat! How dare you?!"

"How dare I? You should know that Mutes are minions of the Precursors. I am merely a Speaker for them. Sort of like Onin." she smiled and her eyes changed back to normal, "So you see Praxis, I'm still way more powerful than you'll ever be. Concluding to the fact that you are not immortal, whereas the Precursors are."

Jak slipped his hands out of the cuffs that were not Precursors metal and bent the metal that was connected to his waist. He slipped out of the rest of the chains, with little loudness and he lunged at Praxis, taking him by surprise and the guards. "I don't think you remember what I was before the tests." he said and Praxis realized that Jak's eyes were black. "Think harder." he grated as his voice became more demonic.

"You were a goddamned Mute!" Praxis yelled

"Ha! Exactly. But I still have secrets that even history cannot even know."

The guards picked Jak off of Praxis and pulled him back to the hallway to the prison.

Nykki glared at Praxis and signed an incantation that Nyx did not translate. Small purple sparks came off of her fingers and she pointed her small hand at Praxis. He screamed in pure agony and Nyx laughed, realizing that Praxis was getting a taste of his own medicine. "How does that feel Praxis?" Nyx asked and laughed, "Hurts like hell, don't it!?"

Praxis' screams of agony was all the answer and Nyx laughed more manically and Nykki smiled. "My work here is done." she signed to herself and walked up to a guard. She made simple motion for him and said, "Take me home." She signed "I love you" to Nyx and he nodded. The guards pulled him back into the prison complex and his laughs echoed in the halls of the palace.


	12. Freedom Isn't Free

**Risen Angel: Well… after a long delay from updates (really sorry about that) we return to the infamous world of Jak and Daxter… well Jak in prison still. Just read. Another time warp ahead!!!**

**Disclaimer: I take no own to any of the characters that are owned by NaughtyDog… I own the other characters, or the one that dies at least.**

Chapter Twelve - Freedom Isn't Free

**Six Months Later**

Once again silence had overtaken the two left. It had been two hellish years since the project had started and out of seven, only two have survived. Two years of pure hell on earth. They knew that they were given a large Dark Eco Shower every two months because they were running out of Dark Eco. Tomorrow was shower day!

Nyx growled as Jak came to close to his side of the cell. Jak growled back and his fangs had yet to recede after his last semi-transformation and it gave him a more vicious look. Nyx stood his ground and felt his nails grow into four-inch claws that were almost nothing compared to the showers of Dark Eco. Jak met him with the claws and they lunged at each other.

From a screen three levels above Erol noticed that the two were fighting, each already had taken a good swipe at each other. He smiled and sat down in front of the screen, watching the fight, it was obvious that soon one of them were going to die.

Jak ducked a swipe of the claws and rolled to the wall. He got up and ran towards Nyx, their fists meeting and making a very unpleasant cracking noise and they faced each other with teeth snarling. Nyx pushed Jak away forcefully and took a swipe at him. He blocked the swipe with his arm, the claws breaking through the skin and blood seeped out of the wounds, making their already animalistic predator traits go completely insane.

Jak took his free hand and hit Nyx with his claws and slashed him across the face. He growled fiercely and released Jak's bleeding arm.

They went after each other again, just claws barely grazing each other, three hours straight. Out of the two, Nyx was the only one getting tired and Jak was still going strong. But that would be expected since Nyx was thirty years Jak's senior.

Jak saw that Nyx was becoming tired and took his shot, putting his claws straight into his stomach and slamming him into the wall. The claws jammed into his internal organs and caused him to lose all of his fighting power. Jak growled like an animal would after he knew that he had won the battle. He ripped his claws out, taking some of the stomach with him, causing severe internal bleeding.

Nyx fell to his knees and grabbed his stomach, trying to stop the bleeding, but failing incredibly. Jak shook his head to clear t and the claws shrank quickly, turning to Nyx he realized what he had done. "Nyx!" he screamed and dropped to his knees, putting his hands to his face and realized that he could've killed his friend and have the blood stained to his friend.

"Jak come here." Nyx said, he tried to keep his voice strong, but it was very weak. Jak crawled over to him and saw that he had gotten a few nasty gashes on his chest. Nyx took his bloody hands and grabbed Jak's head in them. "I'm going to die. That much is obvious. But you're going to live. When you are rescued by Daxter, and you will be, I need you to find Nykki and tell her that I love her," he took a deep breath, pain filled, "Tell her that I'm sorry… That I wasn't there when I should've been."

Jak flinched with shaky breaths and barely even noticed that he had Nyx's blood on his face and hair. "You will… live and kill Praxis, Erol, and all the others that did this to us." Nyx said and coughed, the sound of blood gargling was noticeable now. "Remember that Freedom is never Free and that even heroes need help every once in a while."

He nodded in understanding and felt Nyx's hands fall from his face. Nyx took gasps of breaths as his body stopped working. Jak watched as his friend faded into death and looked up at the corner, where the camera was. He stood up and clenched his hands into fists.

Erol watched the screen and watched Jak scream at whoever was watching. "I'll say it again Erol," Jak yelled at the camera, "you're gonna die, and I'll make it be by my hands if that's the way it's gonna be!" he looked at Nyx and saw the faint smile on his face. "Freedom isn't free." he whispered and walked up to the door, looking at the cell across the hall. "Freedom isn't free."

The man in the cell smiled and nodded. He yelled, "Freedom isn't free!" Then everyone started to yell it. Let it be male or female, they cried it out, the guards didn't even try to stop them, there was no point.

Jak laughed manically and joined in the chorus of voices. Even the ones that knew they were going to die that day, or maybe three years from then were screaming the three words. Jak was very sure that even Erol heard it and it made him scream it all the more, he wanted Erol and Praxis to die painful deaths.

* * *

Jak paced back and forth the length of the cell, he was waiting for the many guards to come down the hall, open his cell, use a few shock nets on him, then carry him to the table. The echoing sounds of marching brought him to a stop from his pacing. He faced the door and flexed his hands again and again. The five men, which was a surprise to him stopped and turned to his cell. He glared at the man in front who was wearing a mask he'd never seen before.

"Well Jak," the man started and Jak knew immediately that it was Erol, "Two years today. I think that to 'celebrate' your anniversary that you can get a shower. And since Nyx is dead, you get twice as much Dark Eco as you normally would."

Jak glared at him and stood his ground as they opened the door and circled around him. He bowed his head and closed his eyes. They kept their fire arms up and two took his arms and locked them in cuffs that went up to his elbows. They pushed him forward and he followed them down the hall, toward the 'happy' shower-table.

Erol smiled his eerie, 'I-always-get-my-way' smile, as the guards put Jak on the table and he excused them with a simple nod. The four marched off and Erol waited, his face became smug as one set of foot steps came and he turned to bow. Jak looked up and saw the Baron. He growled and glared at him with hate completely holding power over his dark blue eyes. Praxis shrugged and walked by his head. Erol turned to the one technician and nodded once, he watched as he pressed the many buttons.

"Do you know how much he's receiving?" Praxis asked the man, and he shook his head. "Four thousand Eco Units. His room-mate is dead. We have two times as much Dark Eco as we normally have." the man nodded and adjusted the amount of Dark Eco input.

Jak watched as the Precursor Metal came down and the Dark Eco tank was connected. He clenched his hands into fists and prepared himself for the instant pain. Baron Praxis watched with his smug signature look that made everyone tremble in fear.

The Dark Eco came down quickly and instantly reopened the gashes on his skin and entered his body. Jak screamed in complete and total pain and lurched forward, but didn't move anywhere. Prisoners near the bottom of the pit cried in agony as they heard his screams. Others stayed quiet, just so then they wouldn't be yelled at later.

The technician watched the vitals screen on the computer he had in front of him and tried to ignore the fact that his heart beat was beating five times too fast. But the boy had lived through two thousand Eco Units of Dark Eco before, it shouldn't be any different.

Praxis began to pace as three thousand Eco Units went by and his patience began to run thin as he saw no change in Jak's appearance. He had canceled his meeting with Veger for this and he was going to see his pet change.

The Dark Eco stopped and Jak fell against the chair, panting and almost about to pass out_. Dax isn't coming_ he thought and he knew he wouldn't be able to live if he had to go through another four thousand Eco Units again. It hurt too much.

"Dark Eco Injection Cycle complete." the female-computerized voice said, "Bio-readings nominal and unchanged." it paused and the technician knew that it was going to say something smart and he muted it quickly.

Praxis stopped pacing and made a grunting noise and said, "Nothing." he glared at Erol and yelled, "I was informed that this one would be different.!"

Erol backed away a small bit and said, "He is surprisingly resistant to your 'experiment' Baron Praxis." he took a small pause and added, "I fear that the Dark Warrior Program has failed."

_So that's what this is called. Dark Warrior Program? More like hell._ Jak thought and tried to settle his breath and heart beat, which was still erratic.

Praxis grabbed his head and yelled, "You should at least be dead, with all the Dark Eco I've pumped into you!" Jak opened his eyes and everything was blurry and his ears were ringing.

"What now?" Erol asked, "Metal Head armies are pressing their attacks. Without a new weapon, my men will not be able to hold them off forever."

Praxis released Jak's head and growled, turning away as if he were thinking. "I will not be remembered as the man who lost this city to those vile creatures! Move forward with the final plan!" he yelled and pointed his finger at Erol. Praxis started to walk away, but stopped. "And finish off this 'thing' tonight."

Erol bowed his head as the older man walked off the ramp. "As you wish." he turned to Jak and took hold of his neck, "I'll be back later." he growled and walked away. No guards were coming for him, so the technician left as well. He gave a sad face to Jak as he walked by. The kid wasn't even going to be able to fight Erol. Four thousand Eco Units was not something that any normal elf could ever go through, even with one of such a high Eco Power.

Jak turned his head back and forth, trying to shake the stars dancing in his head. _Go away_ he thought and felt all energy go away. He even knew that he was going to die, there was absolutely no point. He panted softly and started to say sorry to all the people he knew. Sorry to Nyx, because he wasn't going to be able to give Nykki the message, to Dax for not being able to change him back, to Keira for not telling her how he really felt and to everyone else just for not being strong enough to save the world. Now was his time for peace.

He heard something hover around him and he frowned, what the hell happened to peace? "Ding, ding, third floor." a voice chimed, a voice who Jak knew very well, "Body chains, roach food, torture devices." the voice continued. _Go away,_ Jak thought, but nothing came out. He felt about twelve pounds land on his stomach and he frowned more deeply. "Hey buddy, you seen any heroes around here?" the voice paused slightly and took a small sniff, he cringed and exclaimed, "Woah! What'd they do to you?" there was another pause and a small gasp, "Jak? It's me Daxter!"

Jak moved his head toward the weight and opened his eyes, the stars came back, but he could still make out the small, orange shape that was Daxter. He sighed and his head fell back. "That's a fine 'hello'!" Dax yelled, "I've been crawling around this place, risking my **tail**…" he said walking down Jak's torso and stepping on Jak in the place where it counts and he lurched forward, groaning. The ottsel turned toward his face and grabbed his tail, "**literally** to save you! I've been friggin' looking for you for two years. Say something! Just this once!"

Jak shook his head and opened his eyes quickly. "I'm gonna **kill** Praxis!" he yelled and his voice was poisoned with hate and vengence, his eyes flashing from blue to black, to blue quickly.

"Shhh!!" Daxter whispered and put his paw to Jak's mouth to keep him quiet. "Do you honestly **want** to die?!" he asked and jumped to his arm and made some noises as if thinking. "Now all I have to do is figure out the security locks on this table…"

While he was talking Jak started to pant, he had a real good feeling that he had enough, whatever cause him to phase, to change into that thing. He clenched his hands into fists and panted louder and more ragged. He pulled his arms and legs up and out of the locks, breaking them and crying out in pain as his body changed to the monster.

Dax jumped off when he heard the ragged panting. He stared up at Jak and said, "Or, uh, you could do it." he gulped silently as he stared into Jak's black eyes. "Uh, Jak, buddy?"

Jak stared at the ottsel with a malicious grin. Daxter backed away, fear taking over. He chuckled nervously. "You okay, Jak?" the elf drew back a hand, claws six-inches long, "It's - It's your old buddy Daxter. It's me Daxter!" he cowered in fear and whimpered.

Jak had a sudden flash of Nyx and shook his head, the shape of the monster faded away quickly. "Daxter?" he asked, the familiar name sticking to his mind.

Daxter looked up at Jak and tried to make light of the situation. "Jeeze! What the heck was that?!" he asked and chuckled lightly. "Remind me to never, ever piss you off!" he looked at the entrance to the room they were in and had the faint idea that guards would be coming. "Come on tall, dark and gruesome. Let's get out of here." Daxter jumped onto his usual spot of Jak's shoulder and added, "I brought you some new threads. Come on!"

Jak walked half-way down the walk way and stopped, taking a look at the table that had tormented him for more than a year. He growled and walked away, grabbing his clothes and putting them on. He reached the boots and suddenly he realized he didn't know how they were used.

Daxter laughed at him and said, "They're just like sandals, except they cover all of your feet. Don't worry jak, it'll become easier to adapt. Uh, don't expect a warm welcome when we get out of here thought."

"I really didn't think I was going to get one." Jak said, his voice a low growl.

"Yeah well, if we get the chance I might have to make you get a shower. You reek of B.O. and Dark Eco man!"

"I think the Dark Eco will ward off everyone around me. I just want out of this hell-hole!" Jak growled and stood up after buckling the boots. He fastened the goggled on his head and pulled on the dark blue gloves that matched the long sleeved tunic. Jak strapped the small pack to his belt and rolled his shoulders back.

"Well in my opinion, I like your hair back; it doesn't give you away as much, not that my opinion matters." Daxter chuckled, "But your green roots will give you away like that." he snapped his fingers to prove his point.

Jak shook his head and felt Daxter jump onto his shoulder, walking toward a small opening. He smiled viciously and ran up to it, jumping up to the ledge and crawled into the small crawl space. "An airvent is my escape." he whispered and kicked out a screen, jumping out he realized that the silent alarm had been set off. Jak looked at the red flashing lights and growled. He ran to the entrance out of the storage and saw a guard.

He grinned and walked up to the guard. The guard turned around and snarled, raising his fun and firing Red Eco at him. Jak absorbed the Eco and kept walking toward the man, he grabbed the nozel of the gun and broke it under his grasp. He snarled viciously and grabbed the man's head. The guard pulled out of Jak's hold and jabbed him in the gut with the butt of his gun. "Tsk, tsk." Jak growled and broke the glass in the helmet, which cause the man to lose both eyes when the glass broke. Jak grabbed his neck and snapped the spin, causing the man to die instantly.

Jak stood up and saw Daxter's face. "You… just … killed him!" he exclaimed.

He shrugged and said, "All the guards here brought some kind of pain to me. Two years of pain."

"Well jeeze, I'm sorry. I had no idea where you were." Jak looked at hima nd gave him an apologetic look. "Yeah well, let's get out of here. I'm getting some nasty vibes here."

"Fine." Jak said and waited for Daxter to climb up to his shoulder. He walked toward the ramp, ready for another guard, which luckily for Daxter, there weren't any, at least for long. Jak walked onto the second level and heard the sounds of guns cocking. He bolted across the grate flooring and dodged the Yellow Eco flooring, only one reached him and it was on his arm. He rolled to the safe area and panted lightly, the Yellow Eco already hurting his stamina.

Daxter jumped up from the ground and walked over to Jak. "Hey, what's up? You can usually use Yellow Eco."

"It's the Dark Eco." he gasped and cringed as the Yellow Eco took it's toll. Jak sat up and looked at his bloodied hand, the Yellow Eco had mixed with the Dark Eco and was fighting to cancel it out. "Come on, heal." he begged and stood up, stars clouding his vision. "Alright, let's get going." Daxter jumped back up onto his shoulder and they walked off.

* * *

"Hallelujah!" Daxter exclaimed as they reashed the exit, about twenty feet above normal ground. "It's nice to breath some fresh air, right? Not that it's really fresh." he looked at Jak's face and he saw the take on what had happened to the city. "Hey, don't worry. We'll get that Baron Praxis! You can rip out his guts and everything! That will be a sight to see!"

Jak laughed stifly and jumped to the ground, his knees complained from the landing, but thank the Precursors that his bones couldn't break as easily. He rolled his shoulders back and tried to move with the crowd as much as he could.

**Risen Angel: Woooooohooo!!!! We are out of Prison!!!!!! Can any of you guess what happens next?! Stay Tuned!!!!!!**


	13. Welcome to Haven City

**Risen Angle: Well I was gonna try to work on my Sea of War fic, but I thought about it and I realized it's been awhile since I updated Never Gone, sorry if it's kinda varied on when I update, but I need to write more in the notebook before I type it, otherwise it might end badly. Sorry. Anyways, to Never Gone.**

**Disclaimer: I take no own to any of the character mentioned that rightfully belong to Naughty Dog. If any characters that you don't recognize are mentioned, then they belong to me. Also if any of the battle scenes seem kind of familiar, I might of taken them from some action movies, cause I'm not original like that.**

Chapter Thirteen - Welcome to Haven City

Jak finally gave up trying to walk with the crowd and spun in circles, staring up at he buildings, his face in awe the same it had been when they first came to this place. He walked forward in a last spin and was twice as in awe as he saw the zoomers up in the air. He was barely listening to Dax as he explained that they had way better technology than Sandover ever had.

The freshly-out-of-prison elf walked aimlessly through the street he was on. He looked at an elderly man as he came nearer and saw the small boy standing next to him. Jak frowned as the old man came up to him. "My name is Kor, may I help you - "

Jak snapped and yelled, "You look like a reasonably smart man! One question," he paused and grabbed hold of the man's robe, "Where the _hell_ am I?"

Daxter jumped off of Jak's shoulder and chuckled, "Hehe, sorry, he's new to the whole conversation thing." Jak glared at the ottsel and opened his mouth to say something back.

"Please excuse me, my dangerous young friend, but you are a 'guest' in the 'glorious' Haven City, with the 'magnificent' Baron Praxis as our ruler." the old man said.

"Well I was just a 'guest' in the good Baron's prison."

"Inside the city or inside a cell, walls surround us both. We are both his prisoners." he answered and took in a breath. He spun around and sighed shakily, "It seems that we're in the wrong place at the wrong time. I - I'd move on if I were you." Kor gasped and moved the boy forward and away from the guards coming.

"By order of the Grand Council of Haven City and our ruler Baron Praxis, this part of the city is under arrest for suspicion of harboring Underground fugitives. Surrender and die!" the appointed leader of the legion of the Krimzon Guards yelled out.

Daxter walked forward and chuckled lightly, "Um, excuse me sir, but uh, don't you mean surrender, or DIE11' he slammed his paws together on the last word.

Jak crossed his arms over his chest and heard Kor answer, "Not in this city. Protect us from these guards and I'll introduce you to someone who can help you." Jak smirked at the guards and uncrossed his arms chuckled, his hands in fists.

The guards took this action to attack and surround Jak, with guns raised. He closed his eyes and bent his knees, opening them he saw how the angle of all the guns pointed at him were in the reflection from the guards' masks. He saw one nod and bent down lower.

A gun fired and he jumped up, the gun shot fired and hit another across from him, that one fired his gun then it became like a mirror. Jak jumped out of the circle and smirked as the eight guards all killed themselves. He looked up at the red vehicle above him and saw another ten guards jump out. Jak growled and felt the monster inside of him grow, he let it take over and changed quickly.

The ten guards motioned for the transport to leave quickly and they shot relentlessly at Jak, not entirely caring whether or not it hit him or a bystander. The stone monster growled and lunged at them, ripping their limbs off with one swipe and gouged out internal organs with a digging claw or hand.

The ten guards seemed like nothing to the monster and it faded back when it was happy with the outcome of the blood and body organs and limbs laying around him. Jak sighed to calm his mind down and looked at the ground, blood surrounded his being. He shrugged and saw another red cruiser come up, quickly he clenched his hands into fists.

"This place is a restricted area. Exit the area immediately." he said and flew away.

Daxter came up to him and yelled, "Wow! That was cool! Do it again!"

"Thank you for your help, but I must get this child to safety." Kor said and sighed happily.

"This kid?" Daxter asked, noticing the boy with dark green hair and large blue eyes, "He looks kind of scruffy."

"He is extremely important and now we must go."

"Hey, what about us?"

Kor gasped in realization and said, "There is an Underground group waging war against Baron Praxis. It's leader the Shadow, could use fighters like you." he paused and looked around, no one seemed to be listening, "Go to the dead end ally near the city wall. Ask for Torn. He'll be there." With that he walked away and the boy waved at them following Kor with no argument.

Jak watched them with a quizzical look and felt Daxter climb onto his shoulder. "Okay, we really need to get you a shoulder plate, this is really uncomfortable." Jak shook his head and walked off, walking down the street, finally looked at the people's faces. They were in about as much agony as he was in prison, but they never have to say that they ever survived a Dark Eco treatment.

Daxter saw an armor store go by and saw a shoulder plate, sliver and it came with a yakow leather back-pack. "Hey, uh Jak?" he said, getting the elf's attentions. Jak looked up at him. "You wanna just grab that plate over there, we really don't have the money, but you really need one."

Jak looked at the silver shoulder plate and back up at Daxter's pleading face. "I have an idea." he whispered and told Daxter his plan. Daxter nodded and smiled, he jumped down and handed Jak his gloves and goggles. He ruffled up all of his fur and rolled in the mud.

"You are so gonna pay for this." he growled and ran into the store on all fours. Then Jak followed walking, and viewing the few things that were good and had probably helped a small amount of people. He listened for one of the women in the store to scream, and grabbed the plate and bag when they saw Daxter. The store owner was completely distracted and so was all of the costumers around him.

He walked back out just as the owner threw Daxter out. "Now that is just uncalled for!" he yelled at the man and brushed himself off. Jak smiled at the ottsel and handed him his gloves and goggles. "Do you have it?" Jak held up the silver plate and put it on, strapping it around his shoulder, flexing it and rolling his shoulders back. "Sweet!" Daxter cried out and scratched his ear with his back foot. "Now what do you have to do to pay me back."

"Hey, you got the shoulder plate. That's payment enough."

"Aw… Come on!" he begged and climbed up onto Jak's armored shoulder. Jak shook his head and walked toward the side of the street, keeping an eye out for the dead end.

Daxter looked over his head and said, "Over there. This is as close to the city wall as you can get. That has to be it."

Jak looked a the ally and saw two people standing there. A she-elf stood there and she glared at him, the elf standing next to her was leaning on a door and twirling a curved dagger in his hands.

Jak walked down the ally and looked at them both, he already knew what Daxter's face looked like when he saw the she-elf. She met them and nodded once, raising an eye-brow and crossing her arms. "What do you two nobodies want?" she asked.

"We're looking for a guy named Torn." Jak answered and the man caught the blade and looked at them, "Kor sent us." The man stood up right and walked up to Jak, "Um, are you Torn?"

Daxter popped his head between the two and said, "Maybe this guy's a Mute. Like you used to be."

The guy glared at the ottsel and said, "My name is Torn. Ya know, picking the wrong side, could be… unhealthy." He let the words sink in.

"We wanna see the Shadow," Jak growled through his teeth.

"You do huh? Well why don't you and you're pet, go join the circus, might come down and see it," he paused and looked at his dagger, "That is, unless you've got the fur for a really tough task," he looked at the young elf, "Steal the Baron's banner from the top of the ruined tower, in Dead Town, and bring it back to me. Then, maybe we'll talk."

Jak sneered and walked away, Daxter looked at Torn and growled, he was no pet. "You know this place better than me Dax." Jak said and walked out of the ally, "Where is Dead Town?"

"Uh, I think it's way over there," he answered and pointed toward another part of the Slums, "On second thought, just go straight and I'll tell you where to go."

Jak nodded and kept walking, listening to Daxter when he said to turn, they went by a small park and he stopped. He looked around and could've sworn his life to the Precursors that he saw Keira. "Come on Jak, we have to get going," Daxter said and Jak snapped out of his stare and kept walking.

* * *

Keira was in complete shock when she saw the man stare at her. He seemed just as shocked when he saw her. She saw the way his eyes flickered between hate and confusion, but the premature lines on his eyes gave way that he had been through a lot. But the thin that got her the most, was that he had an ottsel sitting on his shoulder. "Can it be?" she asked herself, the people around her were familiar with her talking to herself so there was really no problem with it, "There's just no way."

She walked back toward Mai-Ann and sat next to her. Mai-Ann was staring blankly at a small boy, his green hair under a leather cap and his blue eyes somewhat sad. Keira looked at Mai's eyes underneath the blank stare and saw the longing to go and pick up the boy. "Mai?" Keira asked and shook her arm.

Mai looked at her and sighed. She looked down at her lap and said, "Keira, we need to go. I need to tell you something."

"Okay Mai. Let's go." Keira agreed and helped Mai up. They walked back to their home and Mai shut the door behind Keira, locking it. Keira sat down on the couch and asked, "What is it Mai?"

Mai put her hands together and said, "I haven't been exactly truthful to you Keira," she paused and looked at Keira, her face was of concern, "What I mean is that I haven't been truthful about my past. You see, I was a devoted nanny to the last ruler of Haven City."

"What?" Keira asked confused.

"Let me finish please. The only reason why I'm not dead with the rest of the Royal Family, is because we weren't in the Palace when Praxis went to usurp the throne. That night I remember very well…"


	14. Just a Dream

**Risen Angel: YES!!! An update. Those are about as rare as a Blue Moon aren't they! Sorry for the wait. Anyways… to the next chapter!!!**

**Disclaimer - I take no own to any of the characters mentioned unless they don't sound familiar, I also take no own to any of the places and that's only because Naughty Dog got to them first.**

Chapter Fourteen - Just a Dream

Jak gripped the side of the ledge that he was hanging off of. "Get up there Dax," he growled and Daxter scrambled up his body onto the safe ledge. Jak evened out his weight and took a chance to look down. Fifty feet above knee high water, and the water wasn't very nice either. He grunted and pulled himself up, the small pebbles that were under his hand flew into the water below. "Remind me to not come up here again."

"Easier done than said my friend." Daxter chimed and looked at the small steps that were in their way from the damned banner. "Let's just get the banner and get out of here," he said and jumped up the steps.

Jak followed and saw the one banner. He slowly walked onto the unsteady ridge and reached for the banner. His eyes gleamed with joy and he pulled the banner pole out. He looked at Daxter and felt the ledge fall apart. They groaned and fell.

Jak jumped off of a canopy and heard Daxter scream as they flew through the air. He landed on the cable, lucking he slid down the cable with the flag pole on top. He cringed slightly as he heard Daxter groan in pain and fly back into the air. He flipped off of the cable and landed on both feet, shocked when he saw Torn there, Daxter landed on the ground next to him and heard the building fall to the ground.

Torn watched in shock as the building crumbled to nothing and said, "Yeah. I guess you guys are in," and he took the banner and walked away.

Jak nodded and followed torn out of Dead Town and stopped just before the exit. Dax went to say something, but Jak raised his hand to silence him. He shook his head and walked out the door back into Haven. They wall walked back to the main area of the Slums and Jak stopped there. Torn continued.

Jak looked back at the makeshift park and saw the mothers all sitting in one area, while the kids ran off all their energy. He looked around again, keeping an eye our for the one woman. He sighed once he saw that she wasn't there.

He walked on and back to the ally, walking up to the door, viewing the symbol on it. It had the Baron's symbol on it, but it was crossed out with a large 'X' and a hammer was breaking the symbol. Jak opened the door and walked down the stairs, seeing small notices on the walls. He came up to another door and it opened automatically.

Torn looked up at him and said, "I got nothing for you right now. Clean up and get some rest. The showers are down the hall and the last door on the left." Jak nodded and started down the hall, "Take any bed that isn't taken. First come, first serve." He nodded again and walked down the hallway. As he entered the shower room, he realized just how fatigued he really was, especially considering that he was barely fed at the prison, the day he escaped he had a Dark Eco shower, and just for giggles on Erol's terms, they were beaten and they could barely ever sleep. He had every right to be exhausted.

Daxter leapt off of his shoulder and toward the towels, just trying to stay out of Jak's privacy. Jak took off all of the clothes he had and turned the water on hot, stepping into the streaming water and feeling the blood and grime wash off of him. He ran his hands through his greasy hair and soaked it in the water. He sighed as the water relaxed all of his muscles and the sleep he desperately needed came. Slowly he stumbled out of the shower and dried off, getting back into his clothes and trudgingly walked to the bunks with Daxter right behind him.

He saw one bunk empty and landed on it. He rolled onto his back and slept, all the worries he had drifted into oblivion and his mind became blank. Daxter curled up next to his head and snored lightly. Jak tossed his head back and forth and his hands clenched into fists as someone or something went into his thoughts.

* * *

_Jak's Dream_

_"Huh? Where am I?" Jak asked as his vision became clearer and he was in an unusual place._

_"Oh, so you don't know what's going on." a velvety female voice said, "I was hoping you would know what is going on."_

_"Uh, okay. Do you mind telling me where I am?"_

_"This is just a part of your past."_

_Jak's eyes widened, "My - my past?"_

_"Yes. It's actually quite dreary. But let's see how well you can guess what's going on." she said and a female came out of the shadows. She had long black hair and her skin was a deathly white, here eyes were almost black and she donned a black robe. "Just follow me." she added and walked down the hall. Jak followed._

_He looked around and saw portraits of large families, all seemed to be royalty. The woman stopped in front of the last portrait in the hall and looked up at it. "Who are they?" he asked confused._

_She looked at him and answered, "King Damas Mar and his wife Antonieta, along with their unnamed son and three daughters, Cassie, Marissa and Lorelie."_

_"Unnamed?"_

_"You will understand later. Now to the next part."_

_Jak watched the scene change around him and saw that the room was on fire. He flinched at the bright light and tried to block out the heat, but he could still feel it as if he was truly there. He turned toward the woman and she looked at the flames in pity. "Almost everyone died, except for the father, the son and Lorelie. The other two daughters and his wife died in the fire. It was a tragic night for all of Haven." she said, her face was subtle and the look was almost of pain._

_He looked back at the fire and said, "I want to leave."She looked at him and nodded. "You can go and have your sleep. You need it." Jak sighed and the scenery was black, the sleep he was trying to get was back and he slept soundly throughout the night, getting twelve hours of sleep._

* * *

Jak woke up with a start and a gasp when he thought he was dead. He wiped his forehead and felt the sweat. "Damn Dark Eco." he grumbled and got up off the bed, he shook his head and his hair fell into place. He looked back at Daxter, he was still out like a light. "I guess we needed the rest, more or less me."

He walked back out into the hall connected to the main room and heard Torn and a female talking. "You know what I want from her. At least let me see him," the female said, she had the same velvet voice as the woman from his dream. Jak hid by the wall and listened.

"I don't need you manipulating the men I have. Why do you care?"

She sighed aggravated and whispered fiercely, "I have every Precursor damned right to know if he's okay. I've come a very long way to see him."

"Fine, go on and look for him. He's probably still sleeping, it's been twelve hours."

"Well at least he got the sleep he needed." she mumbled.

"What?" Torn asked confused.

"I'll just go check on him." she said and walked down the hall where Jak was. She looked at him and smiled, he recognized her as the same woman from his dream. She stood next to him and whispered, "I'm glad you got your sleep."

"What do you want with me?" he asked, looking at her with a different kind of anger in his eyes.

"I just want you to know as much of your past as you can handle. Last night was just a taste of it. Do you honestly think you can handle the rest, or do you want to be in the dark?"

Jak stared at her with a pleading face that was unintentional. "I want to know what happened before I was six. I have no idea what happened to me."

"Well how about I come to your dreams when you have more control over the Dark Eco inside of her. You can't always blame it."

"Well it has caused me brutal pain, torment and the loss of humanity. Shall I go on?" he asked, his voice full of sarcasm.

She turned toward him and glared furiously at him. "You aren't the only one." she growled and their eyes flashed black, the tension in the hall was intense. "I'll be back tonight." she finished and walked out into the main room, flying past Torn and out of the hideout.

Jak growled under his breath and walked back into the bunk room. He grabbed Daxter by the tail and walked back out, putting him on his shoulder. "What the heck Jak?" Daxter asked as soon as they were out of the hideout. "Should I ask what's wrong?"

"I can't believe her! She thinks that she had to go what I went through. I have every Precursor damned reason to hate the Dark Eco inside of me. It's ripping my body apart inside and out." Jak growled through his teeth, as they walked through the Slums.

"Uh, what are you talking about when you say, 'It's ripping my body apart, inside and out'?"

"I'm dying. Dark Eco Poisoning." he said somberly.

"You? You, the greatest channeler since who knows when, is freakin' dying from EP?" Daxter asked in shock.

"Yes."

"Oh my God. Sweet Precursors, the world has gone awry." Daxter exclaimed and laid his head against Jak's head, "I wonder what everyone would say if they found out?"

Jak stopped walking and his face went blank. Daxter stared at him and waved his paw in his face. Slowly the ottsel followed Jak's line of sight and saw a young she-elf with short, shoulder length, blue-green hair and walking away. "Holy Yakkow, was that? Wait is that?" Daxter stuttered and fell to the ground. Jak shook his head and he had the sudden urge to just run up to her and see if she was Keira, but he didn't when he saw a Krimzon Guard walk by.

Daxter brushed himself off and evened out his fur and scrambled back up Jak's body. "Let's go see if Tattooed -Wonder has a job or two for us. It should be 'fun'!" Jak nodded and made his way back to the hideout.

Jak walked down the steps and heard another informer of the Underground say that the water supply had been cut off to everyone in the Slums. Torn slammed his fist to the table and growled. Jak jumped out of the way of a storm of papers and Torn looked up at him. "You wanna job right now?"

"Sure. I'm bored out of my effing mind here." Jak answered.

"Good. The Baron cut off all water to the Slums, leaving everyone to die of dehydration. I really shouldn't be surprised, I've seen his work up close before, while serving in the Krimzon Guard. That's why I quit."

"You were a Krimzon Guard!" Jak asked, his voice was full of surprise, but underneath it was hatred. Torn looked at him and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, well, that explains your oh _charming_ sense of humor." He smiled in hope and Torn looked away.

"The informant told me that to turn the water back on, you have to go to the Pumping Station, outside the city."

"Outside the city!?" Daxter piped up, "It ain't no petting zoo out there. Peeps hoave watch each other's backs all the time."

Jak rolled his eyes and asked, "What about the security walls?"

"Here's a security pass to get you out there. Keep it, I have more that I can get. By the way, if you come back alive and successful, the Slums will be indebted to you, if not, maybe we'll have a touching moment of silence in your honer."

"Oh, I'd like to give him a touching moment." Daxter growled and Jak picked him up, shutting his mouth.

Jak walked out again and jogged toward the Water Slums with Daxter's semi-helpful instructions. He walked over the make-shift bridges and toward the wall. "Okay, who live here?" Jak asked, being careful about the rickety boards.

"Um, I'm guessing people with almost no money and the absolute rejects of Praxis and his _awesome_ power." Dax answered, being careful about his words when there were so many Krimzon Guards around there.

"This is getting so annoying." he growled and walked up to the exit.

"Pumping Station Pass?" the female computerized voice asked. Jak held up the pass, letting the computer scan the bar code. "Access granted. Try not to bring Metal Heads back." Jak smirked at the sarcastic comment, it was the same computer system as the Prison's. He walked through the door and through the security wall, entering the wild life.

It wasn't much a change in scenery, there was still metal and it was built right onto the mountain. Jak blinked and could've sworn that he was on Gyser Rock, but it wasn't the same layout. He sighed and walked onto the dirty sand, Daxter shuddered in fear and Jak looked over at a dark undercroft. "Huh." Jak said, "The yellow things on their heads are the weakest." the Dark Eco inside of him was already calculating what was the most probable outcome and where to punch.

Jak balled his hands into fists as he heard the territorial growls coming from the Metal Heads. "I am so out of here." Daxter whimpered and jumped off, scampering back to the door. The two Metal Heads came out of the shadows and two smaller versions of the creatures appeared. The body was all muscle, the skin was a blood red color and the more weak areas were shielded by elvin skulls.

They ran towards Jak, well more like galloped, and Jak jumped up dodging them both and grabbing the tail of one. With the inertia they had, Jak was able to pull the creature into the air and slam the head hard into the ground. The Metal Head groaned and the gem in it's forehead fell out, it died and the Dark Eco in it's body was absorbed by Jak. Jak groaned slightly and felt rejuvenated ever so slightly. _**Grab the gem!**_ a voice in his head yelled and he did, putting it in his pack quickly and turning to the other one. The creature lunged at Jak and the dark elf put his hands up, grabbing the creature's head and growling at it, their teeth both showing and their growls were dangerous. Jak used his odd strength and slammed the Metal Head's head to the ground, cracking the head and releasing the gem. "It's the life force." he whispered and grabbed the gem.

Daxter ran up to Jak and said, "Well, there's two down in an army of millions. Maybe the Baron will give you a reward." Jak looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Hey you never know! It could be freedom."

"Freedom isn't free." Jak said and continued onto the terrain.

"Whatever, but it would be nice to have the Baron off our backs."

"If he knows what's good for him, he'll die when I'm in the same building as him. He should know a threat when he makes it." Jak said and made his way up the side of the mountain.

* * *

Jak mashed the Metal Head into the ground and pulled the skull gem out as he listened to it die. They were maybe ten steps away from getting to the valve and these things just wouldn't give up. He brushed himself off as the Dark Eco entered his body and looked up at Daxter, who had safely perched himself in a tree.

He made sure Daxter made it down safely and waited for him to climb up to his shoulder. "You reek of Dark Eco." Dax said as a small comment.

"It's a new trait." Jak replied. He walked up to the valve and sighed.

"Ah the valve. Allow me." Daxter said and he jumped to the ground, trying to turn the valve. Jak smirked as he struggled and rolled his eyes, he slammed his fist on the pip and the valve spun, taking Daxter with it, and the suction from the pipe took Daxter up into it. Jak cringed as he heard Daxter hit the corners of the pipes.

Jak raced down the mountain. He heard Daxter hit the last corner. "Jak…" he groaned, "Jak… help." he paused again as the water pressure pushed against him, "Jak… please… help." Jak skidded to a stop at the valve next to the pipe and turned it, opening the pipe. Daxter started to pop out of the pipe bit by bit and flew out. Jak closed the valve and bent down with a comment, "Don't even say it." Dax said and pointed at Jak, "Not even a chuckle." he sat up, "Next time… YOU turn the valve!"

"Oh… come on Dax." Jak said and picked up the ottsel, putting him on his shoulder.

* * *

_Half Hour Before Water Came On_

Keira growled as she fixed the sink. "See if it works now Mai." she said and heard her turn the handle, "Okay I give up. I blame the Baron." Keira crawled out of the cabinet and stood up, "The sink is perfectly fine, it's the water source."

"Let's just have leftovers for supper." Mai said and turned off the sink, "Maybe it'll be on later."

"I doubt it. The Baron is a total bastard, he will let everyone die, especially if it means that he'll win the war." Keira complained and wiped her hands on her grease rag. "I'm going to go to the garage, call me when dinner's done okay. I'll be back."

Keira grabbed her passes and a coat, walking out and toward the stadium sector. She needed to finish her project before she found any of her friends, she wanted to go home. She walked up the steps to the stadium and toward the garage.

As she shut the door, her resolve came apart. Tears clouded her vision and the feelings she had been holding up finally fell. Was that Jak? Could Jak really be alive, after those two years?" She walked over to the curtained area and pulled the curtain back, there sat the almost-complete Rift-Rider. Keira sat down on the seat and touched the empty slot that would hold the heart-shaped gem.

The last thing Jak had touched.

The last thing.


	15. Explosions Are Not Fun

**Risen Angel: I feel like I'm just whipping these chapters out! Anyways….. To the Hunt!!!! I felt like qoating that British guy from Fairly Odd Parents… so sue me!!!**

**Disclaimer: I take no own to any of the characters mentioned or any of the places… they all belong to the almighty Naughty Dog and no matter how much I wish, I will never work there and my dreams will be diminished forever…. You should feel pity.**

Chapter Fifteen - Explosions Are Not Fun!

Jak walked on the bridges, he was happy with the outcome, Krimzon Guards were all leaving the Water Slums area to return to the Slums and seeing what everyone was going on about. He walked in his splendor down the bridge._ Come to me._ A voice said. Jak stopped in his tracks. _Come… to me._ It said again. Jak walked toward where the voice was coming from. _Come…_ The voice repeated.

"Jak where are we going?" Daxter asked, poking the elf in the head. Jak swatted at Daxter, like someone would a fly. "Alright."

Jak walked up to a door and the voice urged him to go inside. He put his hand up to the handle and became unsure of what to do. _Open the door._ The voice said and Jak put his hand on the handle and twisted it, opening the door.

Daxter's jaw went slack when he saw the Precursor Oracle. "Oh dear sweet Precursors." Daxter said, "At least we know we're on the same world."

Jak stared blankly at the Oracle, panting slightly. "Welcome home, Great Warrior."

"Home? What do you mean home?" Jak asked.

"Exactly what it means. We have called you here for a great reason."

"Well I'm still waiting."

"Patience Great Warrior. All will be made clear to you, in the near future. But the reason we called you now, is because you need more control over the Dark Eco inside of you. You already know what happens when you lose control, but you do not see it happening, you see the outcome, from before and after. We intend for you to learn the basics of controlling a said Eco." the Oracle's booming voice said.

"I already know how to control Eco." Jak snapped.

"Quite the contrary. You only know how to use Eco. You can control Green, Blue, Yellow, and Red, but you cannot control Dark or Light Eco, unless we give you our blessing."

Jak growled and yelled, "So you gave Gol and Maia the right to use Dark Eco and almost destroy the world?!"

The Oracle laughed slightly and answered, "We gave the siblings the right to use Dark Eco. They chose to use it against everything that we created. They would've died at any rate, they would of. But… let us get to main part of the meeting."

"Daxter get away from me." Jak warned as the base of the Oracle turned to a purple color. He braced himself as a string of Dark Eco launched itself at Jak and engulfed him.

"Our Great Warrior, we have granted you the power to control Dark Eco." the Oracle said, over Jak's screams of agony and pain, "You are the Chosen One, the one to end all wars, the one to put an end to tyranny." The Dark Eco ceased and dropped Jak on the ground.

Jak panted and growled as fangs grew in his mouth, the claws grew longer and his skin turned to steel grey, then a new feature came. He could see! He gasped and sat on his knees. "I… I can see." he said and looked at his hands, they were ugly, sure they were the same hands, but they had claws, long, black and could easily rip out bodily organs. "You did this?"

The Oracle was silent.

"Answer me!" he yelled and stood up, his hands sparked with Dark Eco.

Jak yelled in frustration and slashed his claws at the indestructible metal. Daxter hid behind on of the pillars and listened to Jak's curses, sometimes the truth is hard to handle. Jak stopped and sat on his knees. Daxter took a look and he was the normal Jak, well as normal as he could get. He looked at Jak and thought he heard a silent curse to himself.

Daxter walked up to him and patted the elf's arm. "Come on. Let's go see what torn has to say." Dax said and pushed his arm, "I'm sure the Precursors don't really mean whatever they said. I mean come on. They chose our fates, they_ knew_ what Gol and Maia were gonna do when they were both born."

"That's the point." Jak whispered, "I've been loyal to them for forever and now they torment me with - with me." he raised his hands in emphasis.

Daxter crossed his arms and said, "Alright come on. Let's go! We'll go see Torn and see if he has a job that involves blowing stuff up! Explosions are fun."

Jak nodded and stood up. Daxter scrambled up and sat on the shoulder plate. Jak walked out with a scowl on his face. He walked back to the slums, realizing how monstrous he really was, how nobody would ever recognize him. He walked up to the hideout door and barely realized that the door was changed, from a door with the symbol on it, to just a regular door.

He marched down the steps and heard Torn laugh joyously. "The Slums water is back on! I'd love to see the heads roll when the Baron finds out!" he yelled, his voice cracking from yelling.

"Yeah." Jak said, "You're welcome. I wonder how much sleep he'll actually lose over this 'armpit' of the city." Torn looked at him with a face of scrutiny, "We've done what you've asked! When do we see the Shadow?"

Torn pursed his lips like he ate something sour, his look then became a glare. "You will see the Shadow, when he thinks that _you_ are worthy of his presence. In otherwords, it's very plausible, it really depends on whether or not _you two_ keep pissing me off!" the two elves glared at each other and Torn said, "I want you out of my sight. And apparently the only way I don't have to see you're ugly mugs is if you're on a job. Praxis has an ammo dump, mainly for older weapons that nobody ever uses any more. I want you to go inside and blow it all up, _if_ you succeed you'll deal a body blow to the Baron."

"So uh, what's with this 'deal a body blow' that you're talking about?" Daxter asked, jumping onto the table.

"A lot of old gun powder, plus one really old bazooka and one huge explosion means that part of the Prison Fortress will be inaccessible and all people inside that part will all die."

"Works for me." Jak said and turned.

"Here, take this communicator. Keep it on channel 17. The KG don't use it." Torn said, tossing Jak the black device, it was also just the same as the one he had in Sandover. "If I call you, go to the job place. Understand?" Jak nodded, "There's a map in it. I doubt you're tour guide up there knows of every part of Haven."

Jak shouldered Daxter and put the communicator in the pack on his thigh. He walked back out and sighed, it was raining. Who knew that in five or six minutes of yelling at another elf, that the weather could change so quickly. Jak took out the communicator and looked at the time, it was already the next day. He barely even realized. "Uh Jak, I'm really tired." Daxter said.

Jak nodded and said, "Let's find an ally and get some sleep. What's honestly the worst that could happen?" Jak walked toward a sheltered area in an ally close to the fortress. He sat down in crook and laid his head back on the wall. Daxter curled up next to Jak's feet and tried to sleep. Jak closed his eyes and felt that same woman try to enter his thoughts. The fight he put up wasn't very good.

* * *

_"Okay, now this is just getting annoying." Jak said, crossing his arms. The 'dream' had started the exact same._

_"Pay attention this time." she said, her velvet voice was irritated and poisonous this time. She came out of the shadows, "This time, take a good look at Lorelie when we get to the picture and the unnamed son."_

_Jak glared at her and they walked down the hall, tensions were on breaking point. Jak stopped at on portrait and saw the picture it was… "Oh my God." Jak whispered, raising his hand, touching the painting, "It's Sandover." he gasped._

_"Do you know of the place?" she asked._

_"Nevermind." he said and walked away, the woman stared at the painting and shrugged. Jak stopped at the last family portrait and stared at the royal family. He looked at the son, the large blue eyes, the green hair, and the curve on the end of his lips that looked like a smile. Jak cocked his head slightly and tried to picture where he had seen that same face._

_"Look at Lorelie." the woman said, pointing at the young girl in Antoineta's arms._

_Jak looked at all the features, the raven-black hair, the brown eyes, which the iris took up almost all of the eye, her skin was as pale as the moon. He blinked and turned to the woman, "You're Lorelie?!" he exclaimed._

_"It's about time you figured it out." she said and smiled, "Now I'll leave you to figure out who the boy is Jak."_

_"Okay then Lorelie, but I never told you my name."_

_Lorelie smiled and faded into the wall. The dream continued, but when Jak ended up at the fire, he got to walk around, getting a better view of the room. He looked at the center of the fire and saw the son and Lorelie. Jak jumped and tried to get a better look. The two were huddled together, looking at a shadowed face._

_"You both are a key." the voice said, Jak stopped in his tracks and recognized the voice, that 'thing' that came out of the Time Rift, except that it was stronger than before. Jak tried to listen harder, but the flames became louder._

_"Two children born,_

_Saved by the Precursors Deal,_

_Both of a different age,_

_But a key to all time,_

_A song for each,_

_All sung in due time." the monster recited. Jak shook his head and prayed for the dream to be done._

* * *

Jak jumped up and panted, Daxter screamed and rolled on the ground repeating "Stop, drop and roll" again and again. Jak slowed his breathing down and looked at the communicator, it had been three hours of needed sleep.

"I'm up. I'm up!" Daxter yelled and got up from the ground. He looked at Jak with a bewildered looked and asked, "What the heck?!"

"It was just a dream Dax. It scared me, that's all." Jak answered getting up from the ground and stretching, his back popping a little and he sighed. "Alright, let's go blow up some old ammo."

Daxter scramble up and sat on the shoulder plate. "Sweet! No ones out. That pretty much means that none of the guards will try to attack us for going in."

"Nice." Jak said and walked out of the ally, looking at the map. He walked in the direction of the entrance he would enter and saw a few guards enter. He followed them in before the door shut behind them. They didn't realize that he came in after them and went into a different area. Jak stared at the huge tank that was sitting there, like it was in park or something. "Try to stay quiet Daxter. I really don't think we want that on our tail."

"Easier said than done." Daxter said. Jak nodded and walked toward the other entrance, sneaking past the tank and barely even breathing. He walked into the open area and heard the female computer device come on.

"Unauthorized access. Activate security tank." Jak froze and turned his head.

"Oh shit." he complained and started to run as the tank came after them. He ducked when he head two shots go off and looked under his arm and saw the tank fire repeating shots. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." he repeated, trying to stay ahead of the tank and dodge the bullets that the tank was firing at them. Jak turned a corner and saw an exit, he jumped up the boxes and into the entrance to the grating into the next room.

Jak rolled onto the grating and breathed making sure that Daxter was still alive. "I'm alive. Oh dear Precursors, thank you!" Daxter sighed and laid down.

"Let's keep going." Jak said and stood up, breathing evenly. Daxter nodded and jumped up. They walked on the grating and the tank broke through the grated door. "Oh come on!" he jumped onto one of the pillars and dodged the gun fire. "Shit!" he cursed and jumped onto the next pillar, quickly jumping into the next opening.

"Ha! In your face!" Daxter yelled, laughing.

"How is that funny?"

"Praxis says that machines are smarter than all elves, except for him. You out smarted a machine."

"Ah, right." Jak said and walked into the prison, "Never thought I'd be here so quickly."

Well just be glad that you're not going to a cell. We are so gonna hit the Baron hard with this. He won't know what hit him." Daxter said, slapping his paws together. Jak smiled stifly and blinked as his ears twitched. He stopped his step and shushed Daxter.

"Why are we even guarding the ammo dump?" one guard asked, he was obviously new.

"We do what Praxis and Commander Erol say, no objections." an older and more experience guard said. Jak growled silently at the sound of Erol's name. "Just keep an eye out." he finished.

Jak bent down and sneaked into the guarded area. He came up behind one of the guards and kept Daxter silent, as the guard turned he stood up. "Hello." he said and the camera recorded him.

"Holy shit!" the guard said and quickly transmitted the image to all in the Krimzon Guard. Jak raised a fist and broke the black-mirror-like glass, the glass breaking into the elf's face and killing him instantly.

Jak flexed his hand and heard the other guards mobilize for him to come. He smiled a sly grin and walked towards the voices. "It's the escapee! Get him!" one guard yelled and they all fired at him, Daxter hanging on to the back pack. The ammo was Red Eco. The smile on Jak's face became more vicious, he ran up to the closest and twisted the man's head in a 180, the elf was dead before his head hit 140 degrees.

The other guards shot shock nets at him and he dodged them as well as he could. His arm became tangled in one and he whipped it at one of the guards closest, the metal conducting the electricity. "There's a taste of your own medicine." Jak growled and pulled his arm out. He turned to the others and jumped at them, punching them in the glass area and causing the glass to gouge out their eyes.

Jak rolled his shoulders back and Daxter popped out of the pack. "Sweetness!" he yelled, "Let's go blow up some old ammo now!" The elf nodded and they walked up to the door to the ammo dump. The door opened easily and everything was quiet. Jak walked up to a barrel and saw a pass. He held it up to show Daxter. "That's an Industrial Section Pass. We would need that to get through city check points." he said and they heard a low growl. "What the-"

"Shh." Jak hushed and bent down to the opening. He glared as he saw two Krimzon Guards with five or six barrels of Eco and two Metal Heads in an entrance to the sewers.

He listened intently at the guards. "These are the latest shipments of Dark Eco." one said, obviously the one in charge, "The Baron says take them and get out."

The Metal Heads looked at each other and growled, probably making a decision. The two guards raised their guns ready to fire if necessary. The Metal Heads took the barrels and left into the dark sewers. "Metal Heads in the city?" Jak whispered, "Why is the Baron giving them Eco?"

Daxter shrugged and then gulped, the stationary tank seven feet from them moved. He climbed into Jak's pack as he stood up cautiously. "Oh dear Precursors." Daxter cursed and Jak bolted behind a set of boxes before the tank fired at them. Jak stared at the huge rocket in front of him and saw clamps holding it down, some faded Precursor text was on it and he could barely make it out. _'Cooling Ducts'_ he thought and bolted for one, the tank fired at him and shot one.

"Warning cooling system damaged." the computer female said, what was it with this chick? Jak saw his chance and dove behind each clamp. "Cooling system in critical condition." He stood behind the last clamp and heard the tank fire. "Cooling system destroyed. Evacuate the building in ten seconds. Have a nice day. Six… Five…" Jak saw a door open into the Slums and ran. He jumped out the door and felt the heat from the explosion.

Daxter fell out of the pack and they fell to the ground. Jak landed and breathed, his eyes closed. He sat up and felt something move underneath him. Daxter popped out and he panted. Okay, no more explosions." he said, catching his breath, "This place has way to many. I miss the country."

Jak shrugged and got up. "I'm pretty sure Torn won't be mad at us. Let's go back and get some sleep."

"Hallelujah!" Daxter exclaimed and climbed up to the shoulder plate.

* * *

**Risen Angel: Also, if you haven't read my 'Just To Let You Know' thing on my homepage, you should. Because it includes a major thing about Never Gone and what will be happening. I just want to warn you ahead of time!!**


	16. A Job Offer

1**Risen Angel: Guess what? No more hiatus!!! Whoohooo!!! And you know what that means? A new chapter to Never Gone!! Here we go!**

**Disclaimer: I take no own to any characters or places mentioned that were mentioned in the game Jak II, all of those things belong to the awesome and all might Naughty Dog!!**

Chapter Sixteen - A Job Offer

Jak walked down the steps into the hide out. "Sweet Mar yes!" Torn yelled, "Thanks for the call." He hung up the communicator and turned to Jak. "Well you're lucky, huh? You actually are alive to tell the tale."

"What do you want? I'm exhausted," Jak asked and forced himself to keep his eyes open.

"Just to congratulate you. It takes some real talent to survive an explosion that big. Go get some sleep, I have a job for you tomorrow. I hope you know how to drive a zoomer." Torn said, turning to the paper work on his desk.

"Z-z-zoomer?" he asked, his eyes bugged out a slight bit.

"Yeah." Torn said, looking up. "Why?"

"No reason," Jak replied and walked to the bunks, his shoulders slouched and new imaginations ran wild.

Daxter climbed out of the pack and landed on the closest, empty bed. Jak sat down on the bed, sliding the boots off his feet, and taking off the shoulder plate and packs. He laid back and closed his eyes. Lorelei didn't try to break into his thoughts and he slept soundly.

(Line Here)

Jak shook his head as he sat up and woke up. A dreamless night, the first one that had nothing to do with death. Daxter was curled up next to his feet and snoring lightly. Jak smiled slightly. He stood up and disrupted Daxter's sleep, the first word to come out of his mouth was "yes!", but it disturbed Jak when the rest of the words came out (Which will be censored for my own need and for the readers, please just use your imagination)

Jak put his boots on, after emptying them of dirt and rocks, and buckled them up, looking at Daxter who was stretching. He put on the pack for his leg and counted off the skull gems, eighteen, he put the back-pack on and then put the shoulder plate on. Daxter stood up on the bed and climbed onto the plate, his stomach growled intensely.

Jak looked at him and became bewildered. "You're not hungry?" Daxter asked.

"No. I was fed once a week in prison. I accustomed to it." Jak answered and stretched, his back popped from being disrupted in the comfortable position his spine was in. "Let's go see what job Torn has for us, then we'll go and get some food. I wanna know how good the food is out here compared to the Prison's."

"I doubt there's gonna be much of a difference. Food in the Slums sucks, period. There's nothing good about it."

"I would think it's better than gruel, I mean, at least the food will be warm and not poisoned. Ah, let's go find Torn." Jak said and walked toward the main room.

"Just tell him we'll have it there in ten minutes, don't get your panties in a bunch." Torn said into the communicator. The person on the other end replied, but was only heard by Torn. "We will have it there." He hung up the communicator and turned to Jak. "Good you're awake. I need you to deliver a bag of raw Eco Ore to a a very important informant of outs. His name is Krew, and trust me, he will be there, it's hard to miss him."

"The guy on the phone?" Jak asked.

"His bodyguard. Take the zoomer parked out front and ship the package to the Hip Hog Haven Saloon in South Town. You have eight minutes."

Jak nodded and ran out, Daxter climbing into the pack on his back and heard Torn chuckle. He ran to the zoomer and jumped on, it had the same feeling as the one in Sandover, just not as bulky. The package was on the back and he smiled gleefully. He started the zoomer and it went up into the air. "Okay then," he said and turned the throttle, it went speeding into the traffic and he avoided all obstacles. "Yes!"

Daxter popped his head out of his hiding place and saw that some Krimzon Guards and citizens were staring at him. Jak went through the red barrier and the alarm was going off. "Uncleared package. You are under arrest," the voice yelled, but was quite calm. Jak turned a corner and turret came out, a long with a barricade made out of KG cruisers. He looked at the controls and saw a switch that read, "height control". Thinking quicky he flipped the switch and they went down, like the level from the very first zoomer. Jak didn't have enough time to stop so he had to run through the guards on the ground.

He pushed two away with the force and they flew into the wall of a building. Jak followed the map on his communicator and memorized his path. He dodged the gun fire from another turret and kept driving. A he came to the next part of South Town, as far as he could tell, more cruisers blocked his path, but less guards were on the ground. He squeezed through the blockade and zoomed into the Port area.

"Um Dax," Jak said and went over the water, "point me in the direction of the bar."

Daxter popped out of the bag and yelled, "Towards the ugly sign. It's a Hip-Hog."

Jak nodded and floored it, just barely dodging a round of gun fire. He pulled the package off the back and went up into the air, then as soon as they were next to the bar, he jumped off the zoomer. It continued on and crashed into a pillar. He laughed and ran into the bar, hoping that the guards would've missed him running into the building.

Well one thing was for certain, this place was definitely a bar. The same scent that was on Erol's breath most of the time, was evident here, there was another scent that reminded him of a pig. He shifted the package to his other arm and walked further. "Ah, I miss this place, that for sure," Dax said while stretching out of the bag. "I wonder if the owner will be out here?" He jumped off of the bag and scampered ahead. "Let me handle this Jak. I practically lived here. Watch how I do things."

"Don't forget to ask-" Jak started but stopped, seeing the huge, burly man standing infront of him.

"Hey there Big Guy," Dax said, bending under the man and continued walking. He stopped.

Jak looked over the tall man's shoulder and stared at the - _Is that an elf?_ He thought. Whatever it was it looked like one, but was it one?

"You Krew?" Dax finally asked breaking the awkward silence. "Cause we shook the heat, and you shipment is in excellante condition."

The huge elf bounced and said, "That's good, 'ey, because a cargo of rare Eco Ore is worth more than ten of yer lives and I"d be obliged to, ah collect, hehe, slowly ey?" He hovered into Jak's face.

Jak glared at the huge elf as if sizing him up. This elf was hiding something. This gut feeling radiated that he was not to be trusted. "Seems the Underground will hire anyone with beaten' heart these days, 'eh." Dax crawled onto Jak's shoulder. "And what to we have here? The Shadow's rat mascot of the month?" he pet Daxter on the head and replied, "Oh... Soft..." the stench from his fat oily fingers made Daxter cough. "Sig, this delicate fur would go well with my silk suits, 'eh?"

Daxter gaped at the elf and chuckled. "Listen, ah tons of fun, anyone can see that you uh, and I, have the real juice in this burg. We're both players, right?" he seemed to be buying time, "We're both lookin' for a piece of the action, right?" he paused and gulped sliding down Jak's shoulder, who was becoming annoyed. "I think we can do business... right?"

Jak sighed annoyed and said, "We did you a favor. Now it's your turn. Why is the Baron giving Eco to Metal Heads?!"

Krew sneered and yelled, "Questions like that could get a person killed, 'eh!" He turned to the body guard like elf and said, "Sig, pay 'el capitan' here and his friend a bonus." Jak bent his knees into a defensive position. The big elf gave him a gun and Krew added, "If you wanna see what that little baby can do... try the gun course outside. Show me some skill with that hardware and I'll maybe hire you for a job or two, eh?"

Jak looked at the gun and felt how it seemed to be the right size. The handle formed to his grip and showed no type of resistance. He looked over the gizmos and saw that it had three empty slots. _Odd._ He thought and walked towards the exit.

Daxter moved back into his place and Jak placed the gun in the pack on his back. The communicator popped out of his other bag and showed a map to the training site. "The Gun Range is just ahead," Daxter said, reading the communicator. "There will probably be people honing their "skills" there."

Jak smiled and shook his head. "That makes it all the more better," he replied and continued walking to the Gun Range.

(Line Here)

"Well that was interesting," Jak said as he walked back to the bar. The Gun Range had been surprisingly empty and incredibly easy. The mutant shaped card-board didn't stand a chance. He was even credited with the highest score.

Jak walked into the bar and Krew was in his face saying, "Excellent shooting Jak. You ever thought about being a Waste lander, ey?" Jak shrugged and rolled his eyes, "Waste landers find special artifacts and rare weapons out in the Dead Lands. Any artifact or weapon worth having comes through my hands. Work for me and I'll throw some of the sweeter weapons your way."

Jak smiled and said, "Kill Metal Heads. Get toys." He nodded and said, "Sound like a done deal to me."

Krew smiled and Daxter yelled, "Woah! Slow down Jak and fat man, no offense. You two had better run that by me again. 'Cause there is no way in Hell I'm going back outside the city to face more Metal Heads!"

Krew sighed, which sounded more like a growl and simply stated, "Sig will show you the ropes."

Sig walked up to Jak and looked over him. "So you boys wanna be Waste landers, huh? Well we'll see what you're made of when we get out in the thick." Daxter growned in dispair, "Krew wants some bigger trophies to put butts in chairs down here." He put his arms at his side and then grabbed his gun. "So I'm gonna bag him five nasty Metal Heads at the Pumping Station." Daxter gulped audibly and Sig laughed. "Don't wet you're fur chili pepper, 'cause we're rolling with the Peace Maker."

Sig held up his large gun and put it in both of his own hands. Daxter stared at it and exclaimed, "I need one of those! Where'd you get it?"

Krew floated back over and said, "Don't ask." Daxter surrendered the fight quickly. "Sig needs someone to watch his back while he tracks down the Metal Heads, 'ey."

Sig looked down at Jak and said, "We'll meet at the Pumping Station. Listen cherries, don't you leave me dangling in the wind out there. Or there will be Hell to pay!"

Jak nodded and said, "Let's do it."


	17. An Upgrade

1**Risen Angel: Sorry for not updating last week... I had an emotional weekend and didn't even think about Never Gone. But that little turmoil is done and now... to the chapter!!**

Chapter Seventeen - An Upgrade

Jak trudged into the Underground hideout, smelling like shit. Literally. Torn had called him after he had cleared the sewers, that he wanted all the information that he knew after being with Krew for a few days. Torn looked up from his paper work after Jak made his way down the hall.

"Hey Freshmeat!" he called out and Jak looked at him, pure weariness sweeping over him. "How'd you're time with Krew go? What'd you find out?"

Jak blinked slowly a few times and said, "I'm going to take a shower. Because 1) I stink and 2) I got back from the sewers and I fell in!" Torn instantly pointed in the direction of the shower room. "That's what I thought."

Jak stopped into the shower room and peeled off his clothes, hanging the on a rack to dry. He stepped into the steaming water and scrubbed at his arms, until he thought that they were raw. He scratched at the roots of his hair and it seemed as if a whole pound of sludge came out of the damp hair.

He leaned against the cold tile wall and closed his eyes. Flashes of Nyx and Nykki flashed before him and he opened his eyes, bringing his arms in front of him. "I have to her," he whispered and turned off the current of water.

After dressing he walked back out to Torn's desk. "So," the elf started, "how'd you like Krew?"

Jak glared and said, "He's a fat lard who uses your men. But other than that, I've been getting major gun upgrades."

"Doesn't surprise me in the least that he uses my men. In fact, the more guys I have over there, the more info on the Baron I get. Did he mention anything on the tyrant?"

Jak frowned deeply as he recalled the conversation. "I know you don't want any details as what caused it, but Praxis made a deal with the Metal-Heads," Torn slammed his fist down. "That's what I thought. Anyways, he gives the Metal-Head Leader Eco and the monsters attack the city enough to where the people keep him as ruler."

"Did the lard tell you anything else?" Torn asked anxiously.

"I think he might of let it slip, but he mentioned an heir. Said that if the Underground found the kid the Baron would have to give up."

Torn sighed and ran his hand over his face. "We have a feeling we know who the kid is too."

"What?"

"Yeah. Kor - the guy who told you about us - has been taking care of a kid who resembles highly of the last ruler's son. That was a sad night."

"Why not confront the Baron?"

"Because we need to severely weaken him before we do anything. If what Krew said was true, then Praxis knows he's gonna run out of Eco. And with Haven running purely on Eco... Damn it!"

"The Slums will be shut down and left out in the open," Jak finished and swore. "You got anything for me to do?"

"No. It's been really quiet."

"Great. I'm gonna head out."

"Yeah, sure thing," Torn mumbled and went to studying war plans.

Jak went back outside, leaving Daxter to whatever mischief he could create. He made he way to the Water Slums. It was time he got the answers from the Precursors.

As he walked into the small hut, the Metal-Head Gems that he had collected, flew out of his pack and into the mouth of the Oracle.

"Welcome back Warrior," the Oracle greeted. "We are glad that you have accomadated to this place. We gifted you with Sight, the understanding of the havoc that comes with each change and each time you change the more powerful you become."

"Yeah, great to know," Jak snapped and crossed his arms. "I want answers."

"And the answers will come. Patience is a virtue Warrior. But the answers that you seek are not what you truly want. The reunion of friends is what you ask of."

Jak flinched as the rush of memories of Keira, Samos, Nyx and Nykki came. "And how exactly will that happen? For all I know Keira and Samos could be dead and I have absolutely no idea where Nykki could even be!"

"You shall see, but for now..." the Oracle said and lunged out the Dark Eco, picking Jak up and forcing the change. "You have hints as to what could bring down both of our enemies. An heir. The sooner you realize who the heir is, the sooner you will battle the Metal-Head Leader and the man named Praxis will be dead."

The Dark Eco stopped and the changed Jak stood, in his hands was Yellow Eco. "We have re-established your complete control over Yellow Eco. You are now able to create an Eco as easily as a Sage can. You can use Yellow Eco with no penalty to your health."

Jak stared at his hands and watched the Yellow Eco play, the small sparks jumped and landed on the floor. Jak phased back quickly and the Eco changed to green. "Does this mean that I could possibly create Light Eco?"

"You have before."

Jak sighed and shook his head. No reason to try and figure out what kind of riddle that meant.

He walked back out of the hut and saw the slight bits of Blue Eco strumming through the air. _Must be what is making the city run._ He though and returned back to the Underground hideout.

As he walked into the hideout, a sudden rush of nausea hit him and he leaned against the wall for support. He looked around him and saw the left over bits of Dark Eco; it wasn't his. Jak closed his eyes and stood still.

"Freshmeat!" Torn yelled and Jak looked at him.

"I'm gonna be sick," he mumbled and slumped to the floor. His vision went dark and he passed out.

* * *

Keira jumped up from underneath her secret project and brushed off as much grease as she could onto her grease pants, from her hands. "Well, let's see, the 10-X engine will work for this, and if I can find the last pieces I should be okay. At least I hope," she said outloud and marveled at her work.

Ever since Marc died, the Racing Organization had decided to instead use zoomer, which was okay, but it was boring when no one was on her team. She sighed and looked at the sign-up sheet. "Great," she mumbled and tore down the paper. "Now I'm going to have to ask Krew for help." She shuddered. "This sucks."


	18. A Fiesta

**Risen Angel: Sorry for not updating, I really am! I didn't mean to forget to, I just forgot, and I had a very emotional weekend the weekend I meant to upload and I just didn't want to! I promise I will update as much as I can before I have to go to Blue Lake, two times a week if I have to! **

**Disclaimer: This chapter has a three month jump, because in the last chapter Jak got sick. During that time he did rescue Vin! I'm just making that clear!**

Chapter Eighteen - A Fiesta

"And how is your little blondie?" Torn asked Daxter, who was scampering away from the room Jak and him were in.

"You put him on bed rest He's insane!" he yelled and jumped onto Torn's desk. "The guy's doing sit-ups and pull-ups in bed! Give him a damn mission!"

"Easy," Torn warned and added, "Actually, I do have one. Short notice too."

"Whatever."

"Go get Jak."

Daxter scampered back into the room and about thirty seconds later Jak came out.

"Good. I have a friend who helps us who works in the Krimzon Guard. She's helped us any times before and she might need your help."

"Did you say she?" Jak asked, he knew that some women were in the KG, but he only knew one.

"Don't even think about it!" Torn warned, obviously not on the same wavelength.

"Not what I was thinking. Where is she?"

"At the Pumping Station. Don't worry, you'll find her. Gunshots will be your tip." Torn said and nodded to the door.

"I'll be there," Jak said and ran out of the hideout, sprinting to the entrance to the Pumping Station.

As he went into the exit door, he readied Yellow Eco in his hand. Listening to the KG chatter he learned that the Metal-Heads were weakest to Yellow Eco, which made it easy on him.

During the three months that he was out of commission he found out that after creating large amounts of Eco, he would become nauseous. Also he noted, that the Metal-Heads seemed to be getting bigger.

He entered the Pumping Station and fired a small amount of Yellow Eco at the Grunts. They evaporated and left behind a pile of Dark Eco and their Skull Gem.

Apparently Skull Gems are the currency for some companies as Daxter had said and Eco is what everyone pays. Jak was perplexed by the idea of Eco being something you buy stuff with, but the Precursor Orbs were extremely hard to come by, Power Cells were very rare too.

Jak made his way up to the Mountain that oddly reminded him of Geyser Rock, one more thing that was ruined. They must of put the machinery on the opening to power the water plant with the steam.

As he climbed ver the cliff to the top of the Mountain and he looked around, he had heard yelling but that was about it, no gunshots.

Daxter groaned and said, "What the heck are we doing, risking our tails - at least me - to rescue some Krimzon Guard hag anyways," he jumped off of Jak's shoulder and added, "She's probably got more facial hair than me."

"Dax you're covered in - " Jak started, but a woman jumped down from a tree and put him in a head lock.

"Who the hell are you two?" she ordered and put a gun to Jak's head.

Daxter growled and teased, "I like 'em feisty." He walked up to her and jumped onto Jak's chest. "Hey there hot stuff! You wanna bark some orders at me?! Woof! Woof!" He jumped down and backed up to catch himself. "Waiter! Fox-hole for two!" He held up two fingers.

The woman growled and pushed Jak away, she aimed her gun at Daxter and said, "Keep talking and I'll raise your voice a couple of octaves."

Jak pushed her arm away and said, "Easy! Torn told us to help you."

She scoffed and lowered her weapon. "I don't need help," she looked to the rising, "But you might. We got company." Jak looked to the rising she was looking at and readied Yellow Eco in his hands. She ran ahead and started to attack the Metal Heads that had started to charge them.

He fired off a large amount of Yellow Eco at the large Metal-Heads and saw the red head look at him in surprise. Jak simply shrugged and threw a large ball of Yellow Eco at a Metal-Head that had started to come after her turned back. He ran Red Eco through his hands and said, "Gotta watch your back Red." He punched a Metal-Head in the skull.

He felt the Dark Eco overload in his system, he bent over and pushed as much of the dangerous Eco through the ground. Once he had overheard Gol explaining to Samos, although it was more of Samos yelling, that he could transfer large amounts of Dark Eco into an object or being to kill it. Took Jak a few tries to channel the Blue Eco into Daxter, but it worked. The Dark Eco flew into the larger Metal-Heads and they fell to the ground.

Jak stood up and turned to the red head, she was holding her own. He channeled some Green Eco and felt slightly better. Being over-loaded with Dark Eco is never pleasing and it had happened many times while he was in prison.

"Die you son of a bitch!" the red head yelled as she shot rapidly at a dying Metal-Head. She kicked the skull gem out and the Metal-Head died. "There," she said and headed back to the cruiser that had been hidden.

Daxter jumped next to her and said, "Watching me kill those Metal-Heads was pretty exciting, wasn't Sugar." She shook her head and jumped up onto the cruiser, turning it on. "Hey Sweet-Stripes! Give me those digits! We'll party hard! Big City style!" The ottsel yelled and walking slightly to stay in place over the hover pads of the cruiser.

She sighed and turned to Jak, "Baron Praxis is looking for something big," she pulled out a piece of paper from the cruiser. "I think it has to do with that symbol."

She handed him the paper and he took it. A part of him clicked with it, but he couldn't figure it out. "What is it?"

"It's the Seal of the House of Mar," she explained and sat down in the cruiser. "We're being sent out on 'suicide missions' to locate artifacts from the time of his rule. If curiosity is worth dying for, you can go ask the blind old soothsayer in the Bazaar named Onin."

She pulled out a pass. "Here's my Bazaar Access Security Pass."

She tossed the pass to Jak and he flipped it open. "So, you're names Ashelin huh?"

"We're even now," she said and flew away.

"Grrr," Daxter growled, "What a woman!"

Jak sighed and walked away. "Your hopeless," he said and made his way down the cliff, Daxter following behind with him mentioning some fantasy with him and her and something about chocolate.

As they walked back into the city he saw he had a message from Krew and he really wasn't all to keen on seeing the fat lard an time soon. Instead he headed towards the Industrial Section, his map said that the soothsayer's tent was only a little bit away.

He walked toward the secluded area in the Bazaar and saw that Eco energies were everywhere, it was mostly Blue Eco. He saw a large tent and realized that all of the Eco was coming from there. "Uh, Jak. I know you're dead set on trying to bring down Praxis and all, but are you absolutely positive you wanna go see a soothsayer who can see into our past?" Daxter asked from his perch on Jak's shoulder.

"If anyone can help us, it has to be her," Jak answered, with an iron will in his voice. He walked to the entrance of the tent and took a deep breath.

He walked in and knew there was no looking back. The old woman on the floor was sitting cross-legged and her hands were folded in her lap. "Dax, don-"

"Cool!" Daxter chimed and poked at a bird that was hanging from a pole. "Check out all the dead stuff." The bird opened his eyes and bit Daxter's finger. "Ow!

The bird flew away and towards the old woman, he landed on the bowl on her and said, "Touch the goods again Rat-boy and you'll be counting by your toes!" Daxter pulled his hand to his mouth and held it gently. "I am Pecker!" Jak choked on a laugh and played it off as a cough while Daxter snorted. "Yes, yes I, my mother, she was very vindictive. I am Onin's interpreter!"

Onin lifted her head and spread her arms apart, clapping them together, a large spark of Blue Eco erupted and she started to sign quickly. "Onin welcomes you, blah, blah, blah, blah... the usual boring salutations. She says that it is good to see you again though Jak."

"But we've never met before," Jak said, confusion in his voice.

"Before... after... it is all the same."

Pecker went to go on, but - "Oh! Oh! Let me try!" Daxter exclaimed, "She wants a - she want a yakow bone! A yakow bladder? No, no.. I got it! For many moons, she has waited for a juice pop? A jewel shop? Oh... oh I know! She's got a hair ball? A hair lip? A hairy chest?"

Pecker sighed and flew over to them, perching on a box of sorts. "Close. But no!" he yelled and he continued to interpret. "Onin says you seek answers aarrk about the Tomb of Mar."

Onin brought up the Seal and bowed her head. "So what do we need to know?" Jak asked and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.

"She's going on and on about mysitkal energy channels, evil curses, stupid 'ooooooooo' crap." he said and pointed at Jak. "I'm gonna sum this up quickly because now you're cutting into my fiesta time!"

Jak looked at Dax and the ottsel symboled the crazy sign. Jak nodded and Pecker continued. "Onin needs you to recover three artifacts from the Precursor Mountain Temple. Not two! Not four! Three! Use the Warp Gate at the North West side of the city. Bring back the three items you find." Pecker flew back over to Onin and landed on the bowl. He then motioned for them to leave.

Jak shook his head and left. He pulled out the communicator and pulled up the map.


	19. A Chance

**Risen Angel: As you know I'm going to be going to Blue Lake sometime in July and I want to get this story updated as soon as I can, and completely updated. I know that during the time I'll be at Blue Lake, I will be writing for Never Gone, but hopefully I will get most of it done, as you can see, from the last chapter, we are about half way through... so hopefully things will go well!**

Chapter Nineteen - A Chance

"Come one Krew, I need a break. Durante did so much for you and yet you won't do this," Keira argued, watching as the fat bar keep floated up near his trophies. "I need just one guy. I don't care who. I'll give you half the winnings."

That seemed to interest him. "Alright ye little missy. You got a deal. I'll find you a racer, I'll take whatever I want and I give you parts for whatever you need," he said and held a pudgy hand for the contract.

Keira handed him the contract and nodded her thanks. "Take whatever you want. When you find someone, tell them that they have to get to my garage in under five minutes."

"Yeah, sure. Ye got it missy," Krew said, a grin growing on his face.

Keira turned to the large man who was Krew's body guard. "Remind him about the five minutes?" she asked and he nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem. You know you just sold your soul, right?"

"I had a feeling, but you know, with food that he eats, I'm sure he'll die of heart disease," Keira said, with a smile of hope. "And if not from that, someone's gonna want him dead."

"At least you've got hope," he said and led her to the door. "Don't go into any dark allys, alright?"

"Yeah," she said and walked quickly to the Stadium.

* * *

"Alright, so this is the Precursor Mountain Temple," Jak said walking to an elevator and riding it down, throwing Yellow Eco at two small Metal Heads on the way down.

"Yeah, it don't look to chipper," Daxter said and pointed at an opening. "Let's go there first."

"Alright," Jak replied and saw a Metal Head with a gun of sorts. "Hold on Dax," he whispered and Daxter crawled into the back pack.

Jak readied Yellow Eco in his hands and channeled Blue Eco, he ran into the view of the Metal Head and it fired at him, removing a shield made of Dark Eco. Jak dodged the gun fire and fired his own blast of Yellow Eco at the creature. The Metal Head resisted the Eco and Jak ran to it, punching it with a dose of REd Eco, cracking the shell around the gem and releasing it. "Damn right," Jak said and continued up the path, using his Scatter Gun to get rid of some small frog like Metal Heads.

He saw a large bull Metal Head residing in the lower level below him. "Dax-"

"No way in hell am I gonna play decoy!" Daxter exclaimed.

"What is the longest time I've held a current of any Eco to an object?"

"I don't know. About five minutes, with Green Eco. But what are you..."

"Get off," Jak said shortly and placed his palms on the ground. Daxter leapt off as he saw purple sparks fly off of Jak's skin. He closed his eyes and shook, forcing what Dark Eco was in his system, pushing it to the bull below them.

The bull started to stamp the ground and he forced Yellow Eco into the mix. The bull fell to the ground and the Skull Gem popped out.

Jak released the ground and fell back. "Jak?" Daxter asked and walked slowly to the elf. He hovered over his face and waved a furry paw over it. Jak groaned and Dax asked, "Are you okay? You don't look too good. Jak?"

"I'm not doing that again for a long, long time," Jak mumbled and rolled onto his side. "Is it dead?" he asked and shook his head.

"Of course that's the question you ask!" Daxter exclaimed and nodded. "But for your sanity, yes it is. Just don't do the Eco thing again. Scared the shit out of me when you fell back."

Jak laughed and stood up. He looked around and jumped into the ring. "Let's see, ah yes," he said and walked over to a hidden pressure plate. A Precursor pillar popped out of the wall and he ran over to it, jumping up it and climbing to the above land.

He continued onto the path and fought another Metal Head with a gun. The way up to whatever artifact they were going to was pretty easy, they only had to fight a lot of the frog Metal Heads and a couple of large Metal Heads.

As they went into the last part Daxter jumped off, headed toward the beam of light. "That's some peeper huh?" He looked around and laid his tail in the light. "Something's cooking," he took a deep breath in, "Kind smells like..." his tail caught on fire, "Burnt Ottsel!" he screeched and ran around.

Jak looked up at the light and the plat form he was standing on started to spin, the light source coming closer. He stared at it in wonder. As the lens came down, it floated into Jak's hands. "Well that's interesting. Hey Dax..." Jak looked at Daxter and saw him falling over. "What are you doing?"

"My tail was just on fire!"

"Okay then... let's go. We got two more artifacts to get."

* * *

"Well that was a disaster," Jak grumbled as he took the small gear from Daxter. "I'm just glad that this is the last one."

"So am I! That stupid lens thingy caught my tail on fire!" Daxter yelled and looked at his burnt tail.

"Oh you're just being a baby. We gotta get these things back to Onin and maybe she'll tell us more."

"You mean that stupid bird will! I've never even seen a bird like that and he thinks he's all that! I'll show him!"

Jak shook his head and said, "Dax, you both talk. Get over it."

Daxter crossed his arms and sat on the shoulder plate. "It's not fair." Jak rolled his eyes and ran back to the Bazaar, nothing that almost all of the city was unlocked. The only place still blocked off was the nicest area. Jak glared at the green barrier and sprinted off.

As they came up to Onin's tent, Daxter jumped up from his seat and sat ready to lunge at the bird. "It's about time you two showed up!" Pecker yelled and landed in front of Jak. "We had to skip lunch waited for you two!" Onin clapped her hands angrily and Pecker sighed. "Ah okay, okay. Onin says she is very happy to see you alive, breathing and holding the three artifacts. But I wouldn't say that!"

Jak shook his head and pulled off his back pack, pulling out the three artifacts. "These had better be worth it. That's all I have to say," he said.

Pecker croaked and said, "Those three artifacts are a key to something or another. Onin will not say. She says that there is much that you need to do before you think about it."

"Yeah, that's heartwarming. Give me a call if you want anything else," Jak replied and left.

* * *

Jak slowly meandered around the Bazaar, noticing that this was the better place to buy food. There was bartering and food was being cooked.

"Man I miss your uncle's cooking!" Daxter grumbled and put his paws on his stomach.

Jak sighed and looked around. "I think I'm lost."

"What?! What do you mean "Lost"?"

"I mean, we've been walking in circles for the past hour," Jak answered and ran a hand through his hair. "Damn it," he growled and heard his communicator beep. He pulled it out and saw that Krew was demanding him to come and do something for him. "I hate my life!"

"You're telling me. At least the map'll come up and we'll be able to find out way around again," Daxter said optimistically.

Jak pulled up the map and followed the directions back to the bar. "Find out if this thing has G.P.S. or something, will ya Dax?"

"Sure! But if I break it, it's not my fault!"

"Got it," Jak whispered and ran the length of the Port, entering the bar in a rush.

"It looks like ye missed me Jak," Krew said bemused.

"Not exactly," Jak replied and stared up at the lard basket.

"Eh, anyways. There are many things that I love. Ya know that. And racing is the newest sport there is. It also brings in the most money. Erol is the undisputed Grand Champion and has no one to beat him."

"Will you get to the point," Jak growled and crossed his arms.

"I have a client, who happens to be looking for a fast driver. I told her I would look around and send them to her. If you can get from here to her garage in under five minutes, you're on her team."

"Is there a catch?"

"You're a smart boy. There's the contract of course, I've already signed your name to save time, eh." Krew answered and tossed the group of papers at Daxter.

Daxter caught it and read, "We the racers hereby to give Krew all proceeds including endorsement fees, mall appearances fees, race earnings..." he droaned on.

Jak closed his eyes, not exactly caring about the details of the contract. "We can work out the tiny details later," Krew chuckles after Daxter finished.

"Pass," Jak said.

"What?"

"That's in the Stadium. I don't have that clearance. I need a pass."

Krew grumbled and pulled out the pass that the little she-elf had given him. "Here's a pass. Now get going. Clock's ticking."

Jak took the pass and ran out, hitch-hiking a zoomer and speeding off.


	20. Who's Behind the Curtain?

**Risen Angel: Did ya like the last chapter?! Hehe... now to the curtain ^-^**

Chapter Twenty - Who's Behind the Curtain?

Jak jumped off of the zoomer, leaving it at the security entrance and sprinting towards the garage.

"That one's it Jak!" Daxter yelled, pointing at the open garage.

Jak nodded and walked in. "Ah... hello? Krew said someone was looking for a race driver?" he asked, slowly walking in, looking around and taking in his surroundings.

"I'm busy right now!" the responding voice yelled back. It was definitely a woman. "You must be Krew's new errand boys. Look I don't mean to be rude, you did get here fast, but I'm too busy to deal with you right now. And I've got work to do!"

"Is there anything we can do?" Jak asked, staring longingly at the silhouette of the woman.

"No! I'm a - working - on a - secret project!" she exclaimed and stood in front of the vehicle behind her.

"Okay! Sorry..."

"Look, I didn't mention this before, but... If you think you have the guts to race int this town, take the JET-Board out on the Stadium course. Beat the challenge and I'll maybe consider you for my team," she said and leaned against the vehicle.

Jak stared at her. His jaw dropped and eyes bugged out. Daxter waved his paw in front of Jak's eyes and gave him a look of almost disgust. He slapped the elf's head and Jak shook his head, walking out.

* * *

Keira grumbled angrily as she slid back under the Rider. She had tried to start it slightly, but it started to spit and sputter, making her heart drop to the ground.

"Come on," she whispered and tightened an oil line.

A small score board blipped angrily at her. She growled angrily and pushed herself out. She looked at the score and gasped. "The little - " she gasped and watched him flip around the course. "No way! There is no effing way someone is better than Marc!"

She just stared.

His score continued to climb higher and higher.

Kiera started to hyperventilate.

"Will that clock stop?!" she yelled and he finally fell off the JET-Board, tripping over an unnoticed rail and he flipped.

She grabbed a radio and said, "Come back to the garage." Her voice was empty. She was shocked.

He looked at a communicator that had popped out and he nodded. His nod was short and Keira almost died when she saw his eyes.

The beautiful blue that she had fallen in love with were on his face, but that face was not familiar at all.

He disappeared when he walked off the track.

Keira waited impatiently for him to come back. As she waited, she started to weld on a small rail to the Rider.

"We beat the Stadium Record," he said nonchalantly.

Keira jumped and sat down the welder. "People do get lucky," she replied and added. "You're on the team. Now if you want to know when you're racing, you won't know until the administration knows I now have a racer."

"Alright. Looks like you've won a few though. Is it true the winner of the championship gets to visit the palace?"

"Friendly visit I gather," she replied and finished saying, "Yeah it's true. Although it's a pointless prize."

"Real fan of the Baron," he answered and crossed his arms. "Any chance I could get up there sooner?"

"No. You have to win the lower class races first. Look, I'm a little busy trying to figure something out. But to help you out, I saw an old maintenance elevator at the base of one of the palace support towers. That old life might take you up there if you can turn on the power."

He nodded and said, "I know just the guy."

"I'm sure you do," Keira mumbled and leaned against the Rider, running a hand through her hair. She watched his silhouette leave and she bowed her head. "Going to have to make sure Krew gives me back that contract."

* * *

Jak walked into the Power Station. He headed straight to Vin, which Jak learned was highly paranoid and had a high case of the jitters.

"Hey Vin, I have a question," Jak said, letting Vin know that he was there.

"I - I can't help you with you're Eco Bill," Vin replied, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"I need you to turn on the access elevator to the Palace support tower inside the city," Jak said and watched Vin's reaction to his request.

"Geeze that's part of the old B-zone power grid, it hasn't worked for years!" Vin exclaimed and turned to the many buttons behind him, punching in a long and random code.

"Well if it's too hard for you," Jak started and turned around, winking at Daxter, "I understand power stuff can be tricky."

Vin spun towards him and exclaimed, "Tricky?! Humph! I can re-route the B-zone conduit lines, through the by-pass grid, shunting pass the Eco rings and into the inductor tubes in series. Then back through the outer-wall insulator-helix and into the number 5 compactor array. Assuming the circuits GX75B can handle the surge, I can link the phase loops lines into the primary coils and presto! you've got instant lift juice!" Vin pressed all the buttons while on this technological rant and landed in front of Jak.

"Vin," Jak said and looked at Daxter, "you're a genius!"

Vin scratched the back of his head and said, "Eh, I'm no where near as much of a genius as Mar was! People say he built most of this stuff long ago. The Shield Wall System, the Eco Grid. Anyways, to get that elevator up and running you gotta find and turn on all the old B-zone power boxes located in the city. There are five of them!"

"That doesn't sound so tough!" Daxter exclaimed and smiled at Jak.

"Well, they are guarded by motion-sensing turbo cannons!" Vin exclaimed and Daxter gulped. "But if you can find and turn on all the boxes, I can take it from here." Jak nodded and turned to walk away. "Just don't tell the Baron you ever saw me!"

"Not gonna be a problem," Jak said as he walked out of the Power Station.

* * *

**Risen Angel: and with that, I shall leave you until I write more. I've typed up all that there is. Give me a few weeks or so and I will have more again! I will update as soon as I get back from Blue Lake or before I leave to Blue Lake. And for Vin's rant, if I missed something, I'm sorry. I tried to get all of it from just memory and I got most of it. If you think that I missed something, I'm truly sorry.**


	21. The Climb

**Risen Angel: And now I'm back. Hopefully this doesn't suck as much as what you would think it does. And just to let you know, we're about a third of the way done with this story!! I'm so happy! This will probably be the longest story I've ever done!!**

Chapter Twenty-One - The Climb

Gun fire flew past his head as he came up to the first power box. He dodged it quickly and ran up to it, jumping on top of the cannon and pointing his blaster gun on it, firing once and destroying the weak top. He jumped up before the explosion and landed on the now open switch, turning it on. A rush of power flew into it and hummed loudly. Jak smiled and walked off of it, putting his gun back in the pack and ducking his head.

"Well that wasn't too hard," Daxter said, chuckling a little bit. "Except that I almost lost my tail!"

"Shush!" Jak said, "We still got four more."

Jak ran around the city, taking short cuts through allys that he saw and waited for one of the cannons to pop up and try to get rid of him, since he was the one attacking them. He blasted another cannon with little trouble, before the cannon even recognized that he was there. He ran onto the switch and heard the surge of energy run into it, like the last one.

Each switch got slightly more easier. But more guards came to each one. Guarding the switch like it was a child. Jak scoffed and climbed up to a vantage point on the last power box. "There's got to be an easier way to kill these guards, other than trying to take them all on at once," Jak said and watched the guards look around nervously.

"You ever try those little Dark Eco shocks?" Daxter asked and Jak looked at him curiously. "I mean, I think one time Gol tried to persuade Samos saying that Dark Eco could also be transferred like arrows. Not sure if that's right, but you could try it."

"Let's try it," Jak said and closed his eyes, forcing all the Dark Eco he had left into his right arm. He opened his eyes and aimed his hand at each of the ten guards. He felt a power surge of the Dark Eco go through his arm and watched as Dark Eco flew at each of the guards that he had aimed at. "It worked! Great thinking Dax!"

"That's what I get for eavesdropping!" Daxter exclaimed proudly and nodded happily. "Now how do we get down?"

Jak scoffed and started to scale down the building he had climbed up. He hovered over the cannon and shot the Dark Eco like he did to the guards. The cannon blew up and he jumped down to the switch. The power surged into the box just like the last four did. His communicator popped out of his pocket and he waited for the caller to start talking.

"Alright, all five power boxes are online," Vin said. He sounded like he was panting and the sound of buttons being pushed rapidly was in the background. "The access elevator is in the upper class region. It is now unlocked and you can access it whenever you want. When you get there, there will be a butt load of defense system on the tower bridge. Be careful."

"Thanks for the call Vin. Be careful yourself," Jak said and put the communicator back in his pocket. "Alright Dax, you ready to attack the Baron right where it counts?" Jak asked and looked up at Daxter as he walked back to the upper class area.

"Are you kidding?! I've been waiting to get a good hit out of him since he got rid of the Metal Bug Exterminators!" Daxter exclaimed and clapped eagerly. "Let's go!"

Jak walked up to the elevator and smiled as the door opened and no one was in it. He walked onto the elevator. The door slammed behind him and the elevator flew up. "Shit!" Jak yelled and braced himself on the floor. Daxter screamed as they went up and held onto Jak's shoulder plate like his life was on the line.

The elevator slowed as it reached the top and Jak stood up right before the elevator stopped. "Well, I don't think we're going to be going down," Jak said and walked off of the elevator. He walked out onto the platform that went to the bridge, leading towards the Palace.

Daxter gulped and said, "Jak, are you sure you really want to do this? I mean, now that I'm seeing the defense systems this is kind of scary."

Jak walked out onto the bridge without saying anything and looked at the first defense. The shock plates that covered the bridge only went a few yards and there were a few blank ones. "Dax hold on," Jak said and backed up a slight bit. He licked his lips and closed his eyes. He ran forward and opened his eyes, jumping forward and onto the first blank spot and balanced on one foot.

"Are you mental Jak?!" Daxter yelled and Jak leapt forward onto another blank plate, catching himself before he fell forward. He jumped once more and landed in a roll onto none shocking ground.

"Well, it was interesting," Jak answered smartly and Daxter smacked him in the head.

"Freaking psycho case!" Daxter grumbled and crossed his arms.

"Well there's gonna be something worse than that," Jak said and continued ahead. He heard the sound of a gun cocking and he ducked. "There's a cannon ahead. It's already ready for us to come up."

"Well that's just great!"

"Dax, stay down."

"Not gonna be an issue."

Jak pulled out his gun and aimed it at the cannon. He fired before the cannon locked on him and he ducked, not checking to make sure that the shot hit. He heard an explosion and he guessed that it struck true. He popped up and smiled in joy as he saw that the cannon was smoking. "Alright, time to go," Jak said and Daxter jumped onto his shoulder as they continued on.

There was another section that was made of pure shock tiles and instead the two had to go underneath and leap across two platforms. Another cannon was in the way and Jak dodged the gun fire, destroying it quickly and looking ahead. They were close to the Palace and he could almost smell Praxis. He looked over the edge and saw how far up they were. "Well, we better not fall," Jak said and Daxter scoffed.

"You just now looked over the edge?! I've been shaking since we got up here!" he exclaimed and shook in fear.

"Well we're almost on solid ground. At least as solid as a Palace can be," Jak said and walked forward, seeing something move at the very end of the bridge. "You know, for this just being a walkway, this is a very dangerous little walkway," Jak said and ran forward, gun fire from machine guns started to go and Jak jumped to dodge the bullets. He continued to run forward and dodged another round of bullets by jumping. He jumped over the turrets and they stopped. Jak sighed and climbed up the rest of the way. "We're almost there Dax."

"You're telling me," the ottsel replied with a heavy sigh.

Jak walked up to a window and saw that it was above the throne room. Below him was Praxis, with Erol. Jak growled deep within his throat as he saw the two and his gaze narrowed. He looked around below him and saw that there was hologram of the Metal Head Leader.

"I told you, I would have more Eco by weeks end," the Baron said. His voice rose up to the windows and Jak could hear every word perfectly clear. "We'll transport it directly to your nest, as promised."

"A promise is of no value," the Metal Head Leader said and his voice was the same as Praxis', "if you can't deliver, my dear Baron. I grow impatient with your puny gestures. Give me the agreed upon Eco soon, or the deal is off. And your precious city will pay the price." The hologram faded away with that threat.

Erol turned to Praxis and yelled, "He's toying with us! Let me lead an assault on the nest before it's too late! I can take him!"

Praxis walked over to the window, the sudden rain pouring down onto it. He ran his hand down the pane and calmly said, "Patience Commander. No one has ever penetrated the Metal Head Nest and lived, you know that. I've seen what comes of such foolish plans." He looked out into the window and seemed to recall and terrible memory. "No. Strength is their weakness." Erol came over to him. "We play helpless. We train them to eat from our hands. And then..." he grinned evilly and turned to Erol. "Move forward with the plan! Tell Ashelin to up her patrols! I want that tomb found!"

"But your daughter has not been agreeable lately," Erol said and put a hand on his hip.

"Augh... I'll see to that problem one way or another," Praxis said and growled loudly.

Jak turned to Daxter and whispered, "Ashelin's the Baron's daughter?"

"And find that child!" Praxis yelled. "If you spent half as much time looking for the little brat as you do trying to get that mechanic on your team, we would've pinned his royal ass to a wall long ago."

"As you wish," Erol said and bowed his head. Above Daxter made sounds of a sneeze, rubbing his nose and taking in deep breaths. Jak held up his hand to tell him to hold it in, but... "With enough persausion I'm sure our spy will..." Daxter sneezed loudly and the snot hit the window.

Jak grabbed Daxter and rolled away from the window. Erol pointed his gun up at the high up at the pane and yelled out, "What was that?!"

"I'm sure it was nothing," Praxis said and nodded his head. "I will be back."

Jak glared at Daxter and the ottsel grinned sheepishly.

"And I'm the the freaking psycho case?!" Jak yelled and stood up, looking for a way out. "You couldn't of sneezed at a more bad time Daxter!"

"Well sorry! How was I supposed to know that I had to sneeze."

"Why couldn't you of held it in?! Now I'm sure that they know that we're up here," Jak yelled and heard the sound of a vehicle of sorts. He looked around for a place to hide and saw that there were none. "Shit."

A large red weapon of sorts flew up to them and Jak saw that Praxis was in it. "What? Erol too scared to face me?!" Jak asked loudly and looked at the machinery. "Oh boy..."

"Seems we've got a rat in the walls," Praxis said through an intercom and folded his hands together. "A rat and his boy it seems. Come back for a few more Dark Eco Treatments? Well allow me to put you both out of your misery!"

"Oh shit..." Jak cursed and dodged a run of fire and pulled out his gun, switching it to the blaster mod and then fired it, while running for his life. "Hang on Dax. I'm gonna try something!"

"If it get's him off of my tail, I'm fine with just about anything!!" Daxter yelled and ducked into the back pack.

Jak dove to the side of the platform and pushed Yellow Eco to his hands. He stood up and fired the Yellow Eco at the green light that he saw coming from the bottom of the machine that Praxis was on.

"You think that using your imaginary Eco could possibly hurt me?" Praxis yelled out and Jak changed the Eco to Dark. He felt a rage grow within him and his hands flashed purple, long claws grew quickly out of his fingers and a grey color seeped from his hands to his neck. He fired the Dark Eco Arrows that he had learned that same day at the green light and Praxis' machine quavered.

Jak smirked and the machine lowered, out of his sight than came back up and started to spin out of control toward a pillar that was blocking a way out. Jak followed it and jumped across the gap. He rolled without smushing Daxter in his pack and readied the next shot of the Dark Eco Arrows he was going to use. He growled and felt the horns grow through his head much quicker than they ever had before. Jak shuddered and his sight became much better. He looked around for Praxis and caught sight of him.

He glared at the machine as it came up from the sky. He shot the Arrows at him and they hit their mark true. Praxis lost a large part of his machine and it fell from him. Jak wondered briefly where the lost part landed, but it was short lived when he saw that Praxis was rushing at him with his huge flying machine. Jak rolled out of the way and then shot another round of the Arrows at Praxis.

Praxis caught on fire and Jak watched him fly up into the air. What was left of Praxis' machine blew up and he just barely escaped the flames. Praxis floated over to the sky view and yelled over the intercom, "Your Dark Powers can't protect you forever! Since I made you, I can destroy you! We'll meet again soon!"

Jak walked up to the railing and Daxter popped out of the pack. "Yeah, whatever. Bye bye!" he said and waved to the retreating form of the machine that Praxis was in.

Jak closed his eyes and a few sparks of Dark Eco flew off of him. "You're going to have to calm down before we even think about leaving here Jak..." Daxter whispered and jumped off of Jak's shoulder and waited.

Jak panted and the claws sheathed themselves. A few more pants and the horns had receded into his hair line. His skin returned to a light tone and his mind came back to him. "I'm as good as I'll ever be," Jak said and Daxter jumped back onto his shoulder and they walked toward the exit. "I wonder what kind of guard system will be out now."

"Probably hell," Daxter said and bowed his head.

* * *

**Risen Angel: Well... we are pretty much done with the first act of Jak II... how do you like them apples! I think it kicks ass. Also, let me know if this sounds better than what I've been writing, because this chapter has been without any kind of previous writing or anything. I don't plan on writing anymore on paper, cause this next school year I'm going to be taking a butt load of AP classes and I'm kind of nervous. Anyways, let me know if you like this more than the rest of the chapters, cause this is sort of what you will get from now on.**


	22. The Sacred Site

**Risen Angel: Like I said in the last chapter, I will be updating almost constantly, or as much as I can. It depends on when I can get to a computer. This starts just after Jak get's out of the palace.**

Chapter Twenty-Two – The Sacred Site

Jak carefully slid out of the palace without a single person noticing him. He hi-jacked a zoomer and flew back to the hideout. If anything, he could hide in there until he didn't have as high a bounty. He scoffed at the idea of his bounty going down.

"Jak… do you think we could blend in… at least a little bit?" Daxter asked, reminding Jak of the fact that they were going at a break neck speed and it was a little obvious that they had done something.

"Oh… yeah," he answered and slowed down to what he thought was a snail pace. "We're almost to the hideout, so I guess we could walk, make it less obvious."

"Alright, but if Torn is pissed… Oh boy, I think we had better run."

"You're telling me. But I'm sure he'll forget all that, especially when we tell him what we learned."

"About the Metal Heads?" Daxter asked and Jak nodded. "I sure hope so, but with what we know about Torn, we might as well duck while he goes on a rant."

Jak smirked and landed the zoomer a few feet away from the ally that led to the hideout. He took a deep breath before entering the hideout. "If I die Dax, run."

"Not gonna be a problem," Daxter replied and kept his head down as they walked in.

Jak licked his lips as he walked past the entrance into Torn's office.

"What the hell did you two do?!" Torn yelled as Jak walked by.

Jak cringed and walked into his office. "Nothing!" Daxter answered and jumped onto his desk, smiling at the little boy with Kor. "We were just ah… sight seeing! Right Jak?"

"Really?" Torn said and smirked, "Then why exactly are the Krimzon Guards looking for… A dangerous young man, with blond hair, blue tunic… and a rabid orange RAT on his shoulder!"

The kid pointed at Daxter, showing Torn that he knew who it was.

"Ah…. Could be anyone!" Daxter said and chuckled, "Orange is the new black this season anyways!"

"Look," Jak said and continued, "we went up to the Baron's Palace and we… well we tripped an alarm." Jak looked at Daxter, who whistled innocently. "We would've been okay, but…"

"I don't care! I didn't authorize an attack on the…" Torn started…

"Hey! We kicked the Baron's ass!" Jak defended and glared at Torn.

The kid jumped and flinched. "And…" Daxter started, "we heard a secret meeting with the Leader of the Metal Heads!"

"You saw the Metal Head Leader?" Kor asked and looked at Torn with surprise.

"Well, not exactly," Jak said and added, "He was on some communicator. But we heard him talking with Baron Praxis."

"Yeah!" Daxter exclaimed. "Praxis is bribing the Metal Heads with Eco."

Kor scoffed at the idea and said, "It will never be enough."

"But then Praxis is gonna double cross them!"

"Really?" Kor asked, obviously shocked at the idea. "Well, I'm sure our oh so wonderful Baron Praxis must of angered someone. There's word from the Wasteland that Metal Head armies are on the move again."

Jak shook his head at that information, that wasn't any of his concern. "Why didn't you tell me that Ashelin was Praxis' daughter?!" he yelled out and glared at Torn.

"Because if you haven't noticed, you are all gun ho about killing Praxis. You would've killed her, thinking that it would get to Praxis," Torn answered, but from what Torn yelled out when he gave Jak the mission, he left out an important part.

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Also, because you stirred up the wumpbee's nest, you get to shuffle five of our agents. You transport them to a location that they specify. Move all of them without ANY casualties! Don't screw this up Jak."

"Yeah, whatever," Jak complained and moved back to exit.

* * *

Jak walked back into the hideout with his head bowed. Normally he would be proud of what he did, but the men he had to shuffle to new safe houses picked the houses on literally the opposite side of what they wanted. He groaned at the thought of having to shuffle an entire family. But luckily the guys that he had to shuffle already had their families there or they didn't have a family. He laid his head against a wall and sighed. "Tell me that if I go in there he won't kill me," he said and waited for Daxter to answer him.

"Uh… Torn isn't going to kill you if you go in there?" he answered, but his answer was more of a question.

"Great," Jak mumbled and sighed. "Better go face the big wumpbee before he gets me."

Jak walked to Torn's office and saw that he wasn't exactly in the anger mood that he was in before. "I got a job for you."

"What?"

"More acutely, the Shadow wants you to perform this job."

"Why?"

"He thinks that you will be able to do this job without even tempting to die. And normally we would be sending a whole army to go and do this, but as of right now, we just can't get all the attention put onto us."

"What exactly do you want me to do?"

"You ever hear of the Sacred Site?" Torn asked and looked at Jak expectantly. Jak shook his head and Torn sighed. "Scouts have reported movement out there, and it's high Metal Head movement, just like before."

"What happened before?" Daxter asked and looked at Torn curiously.

"Metal Heads had broken through the old city wall, that part of the city was the oldest, and also held the most people. We fought them, but the Baron pulled back. Some of us argued against it, but we did leave. We left all the people that couldn't escape. We closed off the barrier with a new and stronger wall. The Shadow stayed behind and somehow stopped the attack."

"And you want us to go back out there," Jak said and crossed his arms, rolling his eyes. "Just great!"

"You sure do catch on fast!" Torn said and scoffed. "If you prevent the Metal Heads from reaching the Sacred Site, the Shadow will be… most grateful for it. He may even want to see you."

Jak turned to walk out and looked at Daxter with shock.

"Hey!" Torn said and Jak turned to him. "I'm probably wasting this, but here's an upgrade for that pea shooter of yours. Vulcan Barrel if you're wondering. Fast rate of fire, but bad shooting range. Believe me, you're gonna need it."

Jak took the weapon upgrade and attached it to his gun. It changed to the Vulcan Barrel and brought Jak's hands down to hold onto the gun with more support. Jak smiled and laughed slightly.

Torn shook his head and sighed. "Just get going."

Jak put the gun away and left the hideout. "This is gonna be fun!" Jak said and ran to the entrance to Dead Town.

* * *

Torn looked to a secret door. "Why do you think that the kid could possibly have the ability to ever be able to save your Sacred Site?" he asked and looked at the man that came out.

"You know, Torn, there might be a reason why he has a hard time taking orders from you," the older man said and Torn scoffed. "The only reason why I think he might have a chance, is because of his personal vendetta. He has a reason to find something, but he doesn't know where to look. I'm going to the Oracle, find some more information out on him. Maybe then we'll understand him more."

"I doubt it. He doesn't even have a clue as to what the Sacred Site is."

"Well, he will find out, now won't he. If I'm not back before him, distract him, give him something else. Baby sitting if need be."

* * *

Jak shook himself before making the final stretch. "Dax, hold on. I can hear two more Metal Heads," he said and licked his lips. These Metal Heads reminded him of a shot put. He hadn't figured out what they were called, but he was gonna give Torn a piece of his mind when he got back.

"Well… we ran out of bullets and I don't want to even try and use an Eco."

"What!? Why not use any Eco? You've been able to use it any other time!"

"Because idiot! Whatever or wherever we are supposed to go, it's absorbing all of my Eco Powers!"

"Oh… well… why not use a decoy?"

Jak smiled and looked at Daxter. "You offered," Jak said and grabbed Daxter by the tail. The ottsel screamed in terror and Jak threw him toward the Metal Heads. "Run little rat! Run!!"

Daxter screamed in horror and ran between the Metal Heads legs. They fired at each other and then Daxter ran back to Jak. "You bastard!" he yelled and Jak laughed. Jak looked around the corner and the Metal Heads had killed each other.

"Well… you got rid of them," Jak said cheerfully and smiled at Daxter.

"You are such a jerk!"

Jak smirked and ran down the final stretch and then stopped. He stared at the building that they came too. "What the…"

"Is that – No that's not – It couldn't be – " Daxter stammered and gaped at Jak.

"It's Samos' hut."

"But how – what – when – where – why?!" Daxter exclaimed and gaped even bigger.

"The time rift. It didn't take us anywhere. It just took us to the future. Daxter this… horrible place is… our world."


	23. BabySitting?

**Risen Angel: Well… I sure hope things went well with the last chapter for you, and if you didn't guess with the Shadow talking to Torn… there might be hints of cuteness and adorableness. And because for some reason or another Fate hates me… I'm going to be babysitting… oh boy… This chapter is inspired by ~Luna-Kitsune-Blu**** and =vashs-angel**** on deviantART. **

Chapter Twenty-Three – Baby-Sitting?

Jak walked into the hideout with a look of anger. He was confused, he was angered. Erol had given him hints as to what had happened to Sandover and Nyx was the closest person to ever say a thing about Sandover, telling Jak stories of the magical place.

Jak stormed into Torn's office and slammed his fist onto the desk. "What's so important about that hut?!" he yelled and he barely realized that the kid was in the office, sitting on the ground with a croca-dog.

Torn looked at him and the look turned into a heated glare. "The Shadow has a personal connection to the place. He says that there is a high Eco rate there."

"No kidding, we used to know the guy that lived there!"

"Look, he's not here right now. He went to the Oracle and he said that you can't follow him. But I do have something for you to do," Torn said and looked to the kid. Jak looked at the kid and then shook his head.

"No! I'm not good with kids!"

"Well, you better learn, cause you are now this kid's bodyguard."

"Why bodyguard?"

"Because we think he may be the heir. Now keep quiet. Kor said he couldn't watch the kid and no one else can do it. Just take the kid somewhere and keep an eye on him. He'll play with his croca-dog the entire time. The two are inseparable."

"At least he'll be entertained…" Jak mumbled and the kid stood up. He walked over to Jak and looked up at him with awe. "Oh boy."

Daxter looked down at the kid and leaped down. "He doesn't look like a prince or anything. What makes you think he is?"

"Ask the Shadow when he gets back. Now will you just take the kid and get out of here," Torn said and waved them all out as he got back to his seemingly infinite amount of paperwork.

Jak watched as the kid ran out and the crocadog followed with his tail wagging. "The kid has a crocadog Dax… this can only mean pain," Jak said and gulped. Daxter scampered after the kid and Jak heard giggling.

"Ah Jak! The thing is gonna eat me!!" Daxter yelled from down the hall and Jak ran into the hall, looking down both sides. He saw Daxter being licked in the face and Jak stopped.

"It's going to be a long day," Jak sighed and just watched. The kid was laughing at the two animals and it was a weird kind of laugh. He wasn't making any noise. Jak watched the kid curiously and thought about asking Torn if the kid was Mute, because if so, then that meant that Praxis had a very good reason for looking for the kid.

The kid looked at him and pointed at the two. "Yeah," Jak said and looked back at Daxter and the crocadog. Daxter was running in circles, making the dog chase him in a joyous manner. Jak bent down next to the kid and asked, "Is that you're crocadog?"

The kid looked up at him and nodded happily. He tried to say something, but he stopped. "Can you write?" Jak asked and the boy nodded. "I'll be right back, okay?"

The boy nodded and Jak stood back up, going back into Torn's office. "You have any paper?" Torn pointed to a stack of scrap paper and tossed Jak a pen.

"Have fun trying to read his handwriting. Sloppy as shit."

"You'll be amazed," Jak replied and went back into the hall, bending down next to the kid. "Here," Jak said and handed him the paper and pen. "Who gave you the crocadog?"

The boy started to write on the paper and Jak waited, he looked over at Daxter who was being attacked by the crocadog. The kid waved the paper in front of his face and Jak smiled tentatively. He read the paper and could have sworn that he recognized it from somewhere. It looked oddly like his when Samos would have him write.

"Your dad?" Jak asked and the kid nodded. "You sure are lucky. Do you want to go outside and find a play ground? I know where a small one is."

The small boy nodded and stood up. Jak stood up and watched as the crocadog's ears perked up at the sound of the kid's movement. Jak made sure that the kid was in his line of sight and only a few feet in front of him as they walked through the slums. He didn't dare take him out of the slums, since the boy would probably get lost or Jak would lose sight of him.

The kid ran around Jak happily and the crocadog joined in, thinking it was some kind of game. Jak made sure that the kid understood that he wasn't to talk to any of the men in red or anyone period, that he would have to ask him. The kid nodded happily and went off to a sandbox.

Jak watched as the kid started to build a small castle, amazingly enough it stayed up, even though it was made out of dry sand. A couple of bigger kids started to stand around the kid, even though he was minding his own business. Jak stood up and Daxter said, "Let him work it out for a second. See what he does."

"This feels like déjà vu Daxter. I don't know why," Jak said and licked his lips nervously. "I just don't trust these kids."

Jak made his way slowly to the sand box and made sure that the kid could still see him, even if he started to look for him. The crocadog started to growl loudly and the boys froze. The kid looked around and realized that they were surrounding him. The apparent leader of the group stepped on his castle and the kid jumped.

Jak bit his lip. "This is just too familiar," Jak mumbled and watched as the kid looked at the foot that had suddenly appeared in his castle. The kid just stared at it, shaking in either anger or sadness. The crocadog barked at the older kid and the boy took his foot out.

"What? You gonna let your mutt fight you're battle?!" the leader of the group yelled and a couple of mothers nearby started to get up, realizing that they're kids were ganging up on Jak's charge.

The kid glared and then stood up. He clenched his hands into fists and then pushed the older boy. The mothers gasped and grabbed their boys before they got into the fight. They protested, but they went anyways. The older boy staggered backwards and bumped into Jak. Jak glared at him and the boy gulped. "I think you should leave," Jak said, his voice full of warning.

"What? You gonna hit me? You gonna fight the brat's fight?!" the boy yelled back and backed away from Jak.

Jak smirked and shook his head. He licked his lips and watched as his charge had a handful of sand ready to throw. "I'm just supervising," Jak said and the older boy turned around, getting a face full of sand thrown into his face. Jak smirked and the kid ran over to him and smiled. "Good job," Jak said and watched the older boy spat out a mouthful of sand.

"You brat!" the boy yelled and the kid hid behind Jak. The crocadog nipped at the older boy's ankles and the boy screamed. He kicked at the dog and it yelped. Jak glared at the boy and cleared his throat.

"Sic him Daxter," Jak said and Daxter chuckled happily.

"With pleasure!"

"It talks!" the boy yelled in surprise.

"Yeah! And it angry!" Daxter yelled back and jumped onto the boy, landing on his face and making the boy stagger backwards into the sandbox.

The crocadog forgot about the older boy and limped slightly over to Jak and the kid. He whined to the boy and nudged him gently. Jak looked at the kid and saw that he was crying. "Hey, it's alright. Come here," Jak said and put his hand on the kid's shoulder.

The kid looked up at him and sniffed. "You did good," Jak said and smiled tentatively at the boy. The kid looked around him to see what was going on with the older boy. "Daxter's taking care of him. Do you wanna go and find another park?" the boy shook his head and pointed up at the sky. Jak looked up and realized that the sun had gone down, and the gas lamps were coming on. "Are you tired?" Jak asked and the kid nodded.

Jak laughed slightly and watched as the kid yawned. "Come on kid," Jak said and looked behind him, seeing Daxter come back to him with a winning smirk on his face. Jak watched as the kid started to drag behind him. Jak bit his lower lip and picked the kid up, causing a gasp to come from his usually silent mouth. The crocadog panted happily behind and Jak put the kid on his shoulders. "Can you see from up there?" Jak asked and the kid nodded vigorously.

Jak continued walking slowly to the hideout, but then saw that there were KG over in the direction of the dead end. "We're gonna make a short-cut okay kid?" Jak said and turned toward the other way. The crocadog looked at Jak curiously and then followed him. "We'll get home soon, don't you worry about that kid."

"Jak… that's the only way in," Daxter said from by his feet and looked up at him with a nervous look.

"We'll find a way in. I'm like some kind of spider monkey, you know that."

"Yeah, but the kid isn't and neither is the crocadog. What are we gonna do, find some safe house to stay at for the night until morning?"

"We could do that. We know where most of the safe houses are. Why not?"

"But I'm pretty sure that Torn wants the kid there!"

The kid made a funny face at the sound of Torn's name and Daxter laughed. "Kid's got a sense of humor. I like him."

"Well maybe the KG will be gone in a few minutes. They have rounds to make, especially at this hour," Jak said, trying to figure out how they ever got out of hide out when there were so many guards all of a sudden that they obviously didn't notice before.

"I've got an idea," Jak said and took the kid down from his shoulders. He realized that the kid was more or less just sleeping now. "This could work." Jak held onto him like he would a toddler and then the crocadog followed happily. Daxter took his spot back on Jak's shoulder and Jak walked back to the dead end ally.

Jak walked right past the guards and they didn't even look at him with a curious look. "Well, that worked," Jak whispered and made his way to the entrance. The door opened for him and he walked down the stairway, the crocadog following joyously and he shook his head, spraying slobber on the walls.

Jak walked into the bunk room and heard Torn clear his throat. "What?" Jak asked and turned to face him.

"The kid's got his own room. Follow me," Torn said and led Jak away from the bunk room. "Gave the kid the right to have a room because he's special to us and he needs at least some security. We usually have a guard posted in front of the door, but since you're here."

"This is just a one time thing right?" Jak asked and shifted the kid to his other arm.

"Yeah, Kor was busy and the Shadow couldn't keep an eye on him. And I certainly don't want to."

"Yeah, lot of help you are. I'm putting him to bed. He's asleep," Jak said and walked into the private room. The door shut behind him and the kid moaned slightly.

Jak laid the kid down on the bed and took off his shoes, his cap and anything else that could hinder his sleeping. Jak took off his own shoes and armor, then he peeled off his shirt, leaving on a torn up tank-top. The kid grabbed Jak's hand and Jak eased himself onto the bed, with the kid grabbing hold of his shirt and snuggling close.

The crocadog jumped onto the bed and curled up by the kid's feet and Daxter even jumped up, curling next to Jak's feet. Jak shrugged and closed his eyes slowly, taking in his surroundings before falling to sleep.

* * *

**Risen Angel: And this chapter proves why I hate bullies. I feel so bad for the kid and once again, if you want to know what inspired this chapter just go to devART and search those names, that or just search Jak and Daxter babysitting. It's cute and these two drawings inspired pretty much this entire chapter. They are the first two deviations that come up too, so that makes it easy. ^-^ Anyways… please review!!!**


	24. The Shadow

**Risen Angel: I hope you guys liked that sweet chapter, cause I know I did. And I can't stand that little brat that picked on the kid, but I loved how the kid stood up for himself. And if you didn't notice, when Daxter said, "Yeah! And it angry!" came from the Suite the Life of Zack and Cody when they have the bike and they have to share it and Cody fixes it and yeah… so that's where that came from. Anyways… cuteness is over; it's on to the ugly!**

Chapter Twenty-Four – The Shadow

Jak woke up stiffly, and realized that the kid was still sleeping on him. He groaned and carefully peeled himself out of the kid's grasp. He looked down at the kid and watched as he took to pillow and held onto it as he was Jak's torso. Jak licked his lips and quietly got dressed.

The crocadog looked at him and panted happily, who then got off the bed and sat in front of Jak and whined slightly. Jak smiled and bent down, petting the dog behind the ears. "Don't worry he'll be safe," Jak said to the dog and the dog just looked at him, a happy look in his eyes. Daxter woke up and yawned. "Keep an eye on him will ya boy?" Jak asked the dog and the dog nodded and began to run in a circle.

Jak chuckled and stood up, Daxter jumping onto his shoulder. "Well, I'm sure that the Shadow will be ready for us, it's been more than a day and yeah… if he's smart I'm sure he had to decipher everything that the Oracle said," Daxter said with a yawn.

Jak nodded and walked out, nodding at the guard that the kid was still there. "Still sleeping?" the guard asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure he'll be asleep for a bit longer too," Jak answered and rubbed his eyes with a hand. "Not sure if I'm up to this whole babysitting thing. That was brutal."

"You don't have to do it everyday. But it's easier when you have a couple of your own."

"You do?" Jak asked and Daxter laid his head on Jak's mound of hair.

"Yeah. One's twelve and the others five. They're my lives and their mom is the best cook ever."

"Nothing wrong with a good cook!" Daxter chimed and smiled at the guard.

"You're telling me. There's always something new on the table, even with the little amount that we have in food."

Jak nodded and started to walk away. "Hey! You should bring some food in!" Daxter yelled and Jak shook his head. The guard laughed as the duo walked away.

Jak walked by Torn's office and saw that Torn was waiting in the hall for him. "The Shadow's ready to see you. Bet you loved the babysitting job."

"Tons of fun," Jak replied and crossed his arms.

"You can come in," Torn said and Jak looked at the short man that was the leader of the Underground.

"So you're the boys who keep getting into trouble," the Shadow said, turning around and causing Jak and Daxter both to drop their jaws.

"Oh no not you!" Daxter complained loudly.

The Shadow looked at him and said, "I am known as the Shadow, but you along with Torn, may call me Samos and you are?"

"We went through all that to meet his holiness! Ol' Log in the Head! Grandpa Green!" Daxter yelled out and waved his arms in front of a much younger Samos.

"But… Don't you remember who we are?" Jak asked and the Shadow went to answer.

"Yeah! What gives?! Did ya get a little nip and tuck, while we were gone?" Daxter interrupted and Torn growled. Jak hit his forehead with his hand and the Shadow gasped.

The Shadow huffed and said, "Sorry boys, I don't recognize either of you. And I never forget a face! Especially one that ugly!" He pointed to Daxter.

Daxter looked up at Jak and said, "So it begins."

"But we came through the rift with you," Jak tried and added, "Into the future right? Keira made some machine and…"

"Listen boys! I don't know what kind of twigs you've been chewing on, but I don't have time to listen to this made up story stuff. I have more important things to worry about than you two. Including over-throwing the Baron, protecting a child-heir, stopping an invasion of Metal-Heads and a huge city to save! I'd say the plate is pretty full!" Samos ranted and looked at Jak like he was crazy. "Besides, I don't go through rifts. I dislike teleporting to a huge degree!"

"Sure sounds like the old Samos," Daxter mumbled and rolled his eyes.

"I have something for you two to do anyways. Go the Haven Forest and root out a few Metal-Heads that have decided to make it their home. With them there, I cannot safely gather what power I get from it. I cannot protect the forest much longer," Samos explained and nodded to the door.

"Well… how do I catch them, or kill them?" Jak asked and looked to Torn for the answer.

"We have a friend that works at the Stadium that has a spare JET-Board. She said that you can keep it, because you're helping the Underground. I had a messenger take the JET-Board and put it in the entrance to the forest," Torn answered and nodded to the door. "You two got a job to do. Go on and do it."

Jak rolled his eyes and felt Daxter land on his shoulder. "So not what I had in mind for the Shadow," Daxter mumbled and looked over his shoulder to shudder at the sight of what was the Shadow.

Jak vanished and Torn looked to Samos. "Well?" he prompted.

"Well what? Do you want me to say that I'm proud of them?"

"What did the Oracle really say? You seemed vexed at the idea of them even existing."

"I've had many daunting dreams of what Praxis could create, but what that boy has in his body is just as I feared. There is so much Dark Eco in his body that soon he will die. He probably isn't feeling any of the effects, because he's been on such an adrenalin rush."

"Are you saying that the Oracle only told you that Jak was going to die?"

"No. It also told me that the boy is very enigmatic. I wonder what for, but I'm sure we will find out soon. How was the babysitting session?"

"I think he'll be perfectly fine with dropping the kid off at the Power Station to Kor. Checked in on the kid before I took a nap and what I saw was not what you would think of Jak. Believe me," Torn said and shook his head. The adorable image of the kid holding onto Jak like he was a teddy bear both frightened him and it was perfect black mail.

"I'm going to go and meditate. Hopefully things will become clear very soon."

"Did you notice that he…"

"Yes Torn. I did notice that he knew my daughter's name."

"What do you make of it?"

"I think that there may be more than one Keira in this world, but if he's talking like I think he is, especially with all the future and rift crap… then I don't know what to make of it. I'm just hoping he's delusional. But this world is one messed up world."

"I don't doubt that," Torn said and shook his head.

* * *

Jak jumped on the last Metal-Head that his scanner had found. "Nothing like Metal-Heads in the morning, eh Dax?" Jak said happily as he snapped the neck of the Metal-Head in his grip. He stuck his hand into the Skull Gem and heard the cracking noise as the Metal-Head died as it's life force was pulled out. Jak laughed slightly and Daxter groaned.

"Do you have to do that?! You've killed thousands of Metal-Heads, but you always do that when you get to the last one in you mission. Why?!" Daxter whined and pretended to cry.

"Because I'm a freak of nature Daxter. You think you would of gotten used to it by now. Anyways, we're done. Let's go find some food and get some sleep. Killing Metal-Heads takes all the energy out of me."

"Wonder what's gonna happen when you have to fight the Metal-Head Leader?"

"Hopefully it'll be easy, but life ain't that sweet," Jak said and hopped onto the JET-Board zipping through the forest with ease. "This is so much fun!"

Daxter gripped Jak's leg with a death-grip holding on as Jak did a few flips in the air. "I'm gonna loose all my hair!"

Jak rolled his eyes and continued on his trek through the forest. He stopped to climb the rocks to the exit and took the lift back to the original entrance. "Weird that the forest and the temple are so close together. Reminds me of the Forbidden Jungle… only way more docile."

"You're telling me!" Daxter exclaimed and sighed. "Man do I miss Sandover."

"You're not alone buddy," Jak said somberly and took the warp gate to the security gate entrance.

* * *

Jak laid down in one of the bunks after finding some decent food in the Bazaar district. Daxter didn't complain and it was unusually easy just to grab some without a single person making a big deal out of him stealing it.

Jak stared at the bunk above him and eased his eyes closed…

_Jak's Dream_

_A bright light this time woke Jak up from where ever he was. "Nice to see you again," the familiar voice of Lorelie said and bent down to help Jak up. "I hope you're vacation was nice."_

_Jak rubbed the side of his head and said, "Yeah. Sure. Why are you talking to me again?"_

_Lorelie giggled and shook her head, "You still are just as silly as ever."_

"_You're in a better mood than you were before. What gives?"_

"_My future is ending up perfect. And I can give you a hint as to what you will need to do to get Praxis off the throne. But you have to do it exactly as I say."_

"_Okay…" Jak said and shrugged. "Why is that?"_

"_Because the choices that you make now, will affect my future, and because I like my future the way it is, you can't mess this up, you hear me?"  
_

"_Yeah, sure. Got it. What do I have to do?"_

"_You will battle Praxis one more time, and you do have the choice to battle him or not, and I know you will want to. Go ahead, but don't go for the object that he wants. Do you hear me?"_

"_What?!"_

"_Whatever Praxis is going for when you battle him again, do not take it from him or get to it before him. Let the Precursor talk and then let Praxis take it, but at least show like you're fighting back. No point in not fighting Praxis when you're just going to give up."_

"Is there anything else?"

"_Hmm… Oh yeah! Do you like reunions?"_

"_What?"_

"_See ya!" Lorelie said and giggled before disappearing. _

"_Weird," Jak mumbled and the bright light disappeared._

* * *

Jak sat up in his bed and rubbed his head. "Alright, no more of what we ate," he mumbled and laid back down.

In the corner of the room Lorelie giggled silently and shook her head. She snapped her fingers and vanished in a flash of blue sparks, similar to Onin's.


	25. Happy Reunions?

**Risen Angel: I hope you liked the fact that Lorelie is back, sort of. She's sort of just a plot pusher for right now, but she is important… duh! Anyways… to the reunion!!! And just to let you know, this will probably be the last chapter for Never Gone until I get back from Band Camp. Also, for those that read this as well as my Uncharted fanfic, do not worry any more. My editor is having internet problems and she explained it to me, so I do know why my second chapter is very late. Anyways… Onward!!!**

Chapter Twenty-Five – Happy Reunions?

Over the last two weeks, Jak and Daxter had more or less been given jobs that were pointless. They were mainly just to get them out of Torn's hair and Krew wasn't very helpful when it came to jobs. One job though was to help a Lurker and Jak and Daxter were both surprised at the prospect of a Lurker being a friendly. It was hard to get that subject grasped around their heads since they grew up knowing Lurkers as the bad creatures. In reward for helping the Lurker, which they learned was called Brutter, and he had access to a secret artifact that he knew about and would give it to them through an elf acquaintance. Krew gave them an upgrade, but Jak was really curious as to what this artifact was that was so special to Brutter.

Jak finally got a call from Brutter, telling him that the artifact that he was giving to him was in the Water Slums and that the elf in question was part of the Underground in that section. Jak had gone there while Dax stayed at the hideout, and got the artifact. The elf explained to him that it was a piece of Mar's Seal, and that with all the three pieces of the Seal, you could open a secret passage that was very important to lore. When Jak asked him about this passage the elf got scared and saw that KG were coming in on them. "Get out of here and go ask Onin," the elf said and entered his home again. Jak got out of the Water Slums by pretty much killing all the KG that got in the way, leaving any civilians to run.

Jak was now in front of Onin's tent. He held onto the artifact in his hand and looked at it curiously. "Arrrk! Are you just gonna stand there all day or are you gonna arrrrrk come in and ask us something!" Pecker yelled at him and Jak looked into the tent, forgetting completely that Pecker was still able to see him.

Onin was smiling in an eerie way and it made Jak shudder slightly. Jak walked in and took a calming breath.

"What is it that you want?!" Pecker exclaimed and flew onto Onin's bowl like hat.

"A Lurker here in Haven gave me this artifact and the elf that gave it to me said that it was a piece of Mar's Seal. Can you tell me more about Mar's Seal and what it leads to?" Jak asked and held out the small piece that he had.

Onin held out her hand and Jak set in her withered out hand. Her fingers traced what little was there and her eyes widened. She floated the object back to Jak and started to sign wildly.

"Oi! Slow down!" Pecker yelled out and she started to sign again, going slightly more slower. "Alright, that's better. Anyways, she's saying that the piece that you have there is half of the lock of the whole Seal. With the base and the other lock, you will have the whole Seal. It's said that the base is within the Lurker Caves, but at the moment, no one has any access into those Caves. The whole story behind Mar's Seal is said to basically be a key to a secret passage that Mar created to create a beacon. Before he died though, he had the Seal that you have found or have started to find, broken into three main pieces. You have one of them. With the whole Seal, you can unlock this passage and light this beacon."

Onin stopped signing, as if that is all that she would say at the moment. "Is there anything else?" Jak prompted and Onin put her hands in her lap.

"She ain't saying anything else, so yeah that's it. Oh and –"

Onin clapped her hands together and Pecker's mouth was shut involuntarily. He mumbled curses between his beck and Jak thought carefully on what he was just told. "Thank you," he mumbled and walked out. He put the piece of the Seal that he had into his pocket and ran a hand through his hair.

_If Mar's Seal is supposed to open a door to a secret passage, this passage must lead to a very important beacon_, Jak thought to himself, meandering through the streets of the Bazaar area, getting his surroundings more in tune with his mind. _What I want to know is what does this beacon show? Torn was mumbling to the Shadow one day about Praxis looking for Mar's Tomb, but why on the Precursors' name would Praxis be looking for Mar's Tomb. Guy was a genius and all, but it's not like he would have anything that important in his tomb, would he?_

Jak stopped, closing his eyes. _Why would Praxis be so interested in something as trivial as a tomb? _

*Flash back*

He moved silently through his own burial site. He watched as the elves working hard at making his tomb created the Test's of Manhood as he called it. Patience. Intelligence. Strength. Listening. All important aspects as to what made him, him. He would want his descendants to test themselves only if they truly needed to get the Prize at the end.

He walked into the huge chasm that held the Precursor Idol. "Are you sure this will work?" he asked the Idol and a loud rumbling erupted. "Yes, I realize that this is the only real safe place to hold your child, but are you sure it will work?" The rumbling continued. "Yes, I understand. Your child is very important. It will take many years for it to fully grow. Hopefully things go as they should in the next few generations. I don't exactly want to have to worry about an usurping."

The rumbling ceased and he bowed his head. "Good night my old friend. You have taught me well and I hope you will awake when my descendant, who needs your advice, does come to you. I know that someone will. It will only be a matter of time."

*End Flash back*

Jak opened his eyes and shook visibly. "Woah," he mumbled and realized that during the vision he had, he had walked through Haven, walking toward the War Memorial in front of the Palace doors. Jak looked at the memorial and looked at it curiously. He always wondered why Praxis would be the one to be on the memorial, as far as what Torn had said, Praxis was nothing but a chicken. Hiding in the safety of his blockade, while his armies fought his battles. He rarely ever came out though.

Jak felt his communicator come out and Torn's voice came out, saying, "Come back to the hideout. I have a mission for you, well more like the Shadow does. Your rat is waiting for you too."

Jak scoffed and pocketed the communicator, hi-jacking a zoomer above him and speeding off to the hideout. As Jak came to the hideout he saw the Shadow with the kid and his crocadog. He dismounted the zoomer a far distance away and walked the rest.

"Ah Jak, good to see you boy," the Shadow said and Daxter came out of the hideout doors and leaped onto Jak's shoulder. "I need you to escort the kid to the Power Station. I'm just too busy and I don't have the time to keep an eye of the kid and usurping Praxis. Kor said he would take the boy. Take the kid and mutt to the Power Station. Look out for guard patrols and protect the kid."

"Why not just me baby sit him again?" Jak asked and Daxter waved at the kid.

"Because the guards are looking for the heir. The kid just happens to be the heir and the only solution that the insignificant guards can think of, is arresting every child and killing them."

Jak looked down at the kid who stopped playing with his crocadog long enough for him to look at Jak with eyes filled with fear. "You know you just scared the kid," Jak snapped and the Shadow looked at the kid.

"Yeah, well he's gonna have to learn sooner or later. I'd rather it be sooner, that way he gets out of it," the Shadow growled back and the kid walked up to Jak. He grabbed Jak's hand and looked up at him with trust. "You might wanna get going," the Shadow said and stepped close to the crocadog. "Oh and if you happen to lose the mutt…" he was cut off with the loud growl of the crocadog. Jak smirked and took the kid to the exit of the ally.

"Don't worry kid, I'll keep you safe, you just stay on my feet," Jak said and the kid nodded. Jak pulled out his gun and set it to blaster, waiting for guards to come out and start attacking him.

"Hey! You with the kid!" a guard yelled and Jak froze, putting the kid behind him. "Surrender the child!!"

"I don't think so," Jak growled and fired at the guard. Jak looked back at the kid and bit back a growl. "Come here," Jak said and picked the kid up, carrying him in the crook of his arm. The crocadog kept up with him and they ran to a double zoomer, evading the ground forces that have come.

"Time to fly kiddo," Jak said and sat the kid in the passenger side of the double zoomer, grabbing the dog and setting it on the kid's lap. Jak jumped into his own seat and floored it, not caring if the hi-jacking was right or not.

Jak flew through the streets of Haven, heading for the Power Station. The kid kept his head down as they started to get attacked by the turret guns and Jak sped the zoomer along, barely dodged a run of fire as it was shot at him. Jak grit his teeth at the sight of a barricade in the last home stretch of the Power Station. Jak grabbed the kid and the dog and jumped out of the zoomer.

The zoomer collided with the barricade and Jak ran up the ramp with the kid and dog in tow. "Hold on you two, we're almost there," Jak said as he sprinted up the ramp, dodging gun fire. He ran into the Power Station and set the kid down. The doors shut behind him and the guards couldn't enter. "Thank the Precursors," Jak mumbled and ran a hand through his hair.

"You're telling me," Daxter exclaimed and added, "I'm pretty sure my tail got singed."

Jak walked in and saw that the kid was next to Kor and Vin was busily typing away, keeping the doors shut and creating false orders, telling the KG that there was another guy trying to get a kid in a safe area. "Thanks Vin," Jak said and Vin waved and continued to type away.

"Okay, so the mutt and the kid are safe, now what?" Daxter asked and looked at Kor expectantly.

"I don't have anything at the moment for you to do, but I will eventually. Come back here when I call you, that way I can give you whatever you need," Kor said and nodded at the two.

Jak looked down at the dog and saw that it had pissed on Kor's staff. Jak snickered and pointed at it to Daxter. Daxter snorted and covered his mouth with his paw. Kor looked at the staff and picked it up, grimacing and shaking it to get rid of the pee.

"When I give you the job, you boys have to shake the Baron to the core. He'll never see it coming and it'll stop him from getting any closer to being to Mar's Tomb."

"Yeah, sure," Jak said and turned to exit. "Alright, I'll go and find something to do, cause ya know, I just wanna wait for Praxis to get to Mar's Tomb."

Kor chuckled slightly and the kid waved at Jak. Jak smiled slightly at the boy and left.

As Jak left his communicator came out. He looked at it and saw that it was from the mechanic. He accepted the call and he said, "Hello?"

"Good, this is your communicator!" she exclaimed and started to giggle nervously. "Look, I just got a call from the Race Administration called and said that we were in the race. I need you to come to the garage and try on some uniforms."

"Um… sure," Jak said in reply and looked at Daxter with confusion. Daxter shrugged and

"Thanks! They didn't tell me yet, but there is a race coming up. If you get here soon, I'm sure that they'll let you race in the next race!" she said excitedly and Jak looked at the communicator like it was crazy.

"Yeah. I'll be there soon," Jak said and turned the communicator off.

"You didn't even say bye!" Daxter yelled and grunted, "Why can't I say anything?!"

"Because you're an idiot. Now let's go and see what kind of uniforms this chick has," Jak said and walked off to the stadium.

* * *

**Risen Angel: And I shall leave you here. Sorry for the cliff-hanger, but I don't wanna make this any longer than it has to be and that intro was a little weird. Oh and I know I missed some major things. Like as of right now I'm realizing that you do the intercepted tanker mission with Ashelin before the race and I will say right now, that during those two weeks, they did do missions like that. Where someone would call and ask for their help. Like Ashelin, cause we all know she's just a big sissy that tries to be the tough girl. The cat fight will happen, but I don't wanna do it now, cause I'll get into it. So there. Also, this is the last chapter until I get back from Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, which is what this chapter is mainly for. See ya in about two weeks!!!!**


	26. The Perfect Scene

1**Risen Angel: Well... I'm back!!! And to celebrate... a new chapter of Never Gone!!**

Chapter Twenty-Six - The Perfect Scene

Jak walked into the garage silently, no one met him in the door and he heard curses towards a door in the back. "Please Daxter," Jak said and looked up at the ottsel, "don't say a word."

"Yeah, yeah. Cause ya know, she might actually like a talking ottsel!"

"Oh just shush!" Jak scolded and stopped as the door flew open.

Jak froze as he saw her face. The same one he saw before in the slums on his very first mission. Just another person in the crowd, but even she had stopped to stare at him.

"Holy shit!" Daxter yelled out and just stared at the she-elf.

She stared at them. "J-Jak?!" her voice cracked. "Y-you're alive!" she yelled and dropped the box in her arms. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around him. "You have no idea how much I've missed you!"

She took a deep breath and stiffened. Jak gulped and realized what she smelt. "Keira? It's not my - " he tried.

"What in Precursor's name happened?" she exclaimed and looked at him.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," he said and back away.

"And you're voice! I thought -"

"So does everyone else," he said and looked at Daxter who was still staring at Keira like she was just a mirage.

"You want me to pinch you Dax," she said and put a hand on her hip.

"Yup! That's Keira!" he said an leaped toward a work bench.

"Don't touch anything!" she yelled.

"Now you just sound like you're Dad. Oh and by the - " Jak grabbed Daxter's tail and glared at him. "Oh! You're no fun!" Daxter whined.

"It's not a joke! Anyways, Keira, you called me here because I'm your racer. Now what?!"

"Well... I suppose find a uniform. All of these uniforms have "Black Arrows" on them, so anyone would know what team you are. What have you been doing?"

"Working with the Underground for the past five or six months, but I'd rather not talk about what happened before. I'd highly appreciate it," Jak answered and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Alright well, I guess we better find a uniform that fits."

"What's the normal dress code, besides the uniform?"

"Usually nothing, but some racers wear helmets, just in case a zoomer crashes. Why?"

"I'll take a helmet as well."

"It doesn't answer my question."

"And you don't want to know!" Jak yelled back and took a step toward her. She glared at him and hugged angrily. "I'll let you know later. When I think the time is right."

"That isn't exactly the most pleasing of answers Jak," Keira replied and continued to stare at him. "It's as if you think you're dying."

Jak blinked a few times in surprise and then shook his head slightly. "Wow is she perceptive!" Daxter yelled out and jumped into the box of uniforms.

"What does he mean?" Keira asked and looked at Jak.

"Like I said. I'll tell you later," Jak answered and turned away, breathing harshly through his nose to calm down. He felt a slight spark of Dark Eco run along his arm and he walked away from Keira, hoping she wouldn't follow.

"Jak?" she asked and as predicted she followed him, raising her hand to touch the arm that was charged with Dark Eco.

"Don't," he said and turned in time for her hand to touch his other arm. He looked at her with a rapid look and his eyes looked slightly crazed.

"What?" she asked and looked at him with concern.

"You'll get hurt if you touch me. I promise I'm not lying."

Keira looked at the arm he had hidden from her and held out her hand. "I'll take the chance," she said and watched Jak concentrate. His eyebrows scrunched together and he slowly raised his hand. She looked at his fingers and saw a slight grey tint to it. Keira rook his hand and looked up at his eyes quickly.

What she saw took her by surprise. His left eye had changed black, but his right was the same, but both eyes looked like they were in pain. "What happened?" she asked and looked earnestly to him.

"I'm not the same," he said gruffly and watched her.

She looked back down to his hand and pressed both of her hands to his one semi-changed hand. Lifting it, she seemed to be studying it, like it was something to understand. "You don't -"

"Shh..." she said and looked back up at him. She looked him in the eye and said, "I don't care what you look like. I never have. I'm just so happy you are okay."

She hugged him and he slowly eased himself into the hug. Keira looked at him and watched as his left eye changed back to normal. She smiled up to him and slowly reached up to kiss him. He stiffened with the contact of her mouth on his and he just stared at her for minute.

"What the hell!"

Keira jumped and slightly backed away from Jak.

"Nice to know you two are getting along so nicely," Daxter grumbled and jumped out of the box. "Here you go Mr. Skinny, one uniform. And because I'm a genius, I chose a violet one and the "Black Arrows" logo is on both shoulders, the chest and on the back. Awesome design by the way!"

"Thanks," Keira said and blushed. "I designed it when JET-Board racing was the major sport. But my racer died. His JET-Board apparently malfunctioned, but - "

"Anything you make or fix doesn't malfunction," Jak finished and sighed. "Who was in second?" he asked angrily and looked at Keira.

"Erol."

"Foul play. Your racer would've won. Erol did something. Don't doubt it."

"I don't. But why do you say Erol?"

"Because at one point I suffered when Erol lost races. When he won, worse things happened."

Keira stared at Jak and he saw the fear in her eyes. "Don't look at me like that. I had nothing to do with the pain."

Keira closed her eyes and nodded. "Go ahead and get changed. An announcement will come when the race will be starting. It's the start of the season, so coming in last isn't an option."

"You got it. And if it gets me to Praxis, all the better," Jak said and Daxter leaped onto Jak's shoulder.

"Dude with what you did to Praxis before, he has a reason to be scared of you!" Daxter exclaimed and clapped his paws together.

"You did what?" Keira asked and looked at Jak.

"Don't you yelled at me," he said and grabbed the jumpsuit.

"Who siad I was going to?!"

"It's inevitable. Believe me. Even I can hardly believe I did what I did."

"But you kicked the Baron's ass!" Daxter exclaimed. "That's something to be proud of!"

Keira gasped and Jak his his head onto his forehead. "This is why I said to keep you're mouth shut!" Jak yelled and turned his head to Daxter, a low growl deep within his throat.

Daxter chuckled nervously and jumped, Jak grabbed him by the tail and raised the ottsel to eye level.

"Okay boys," Keira said nervously. "Calm down, because this race is very important. It'll bring in big money and it'll get the Black Arrows back in the field! You can't lose!"

"I got it. No pressure or anything," Jak said an looked around. "So where do I change?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed and took him upstairs. "You can use this apartment whenever by the way. I don't use it except for when it's too late to get back to where I live."

Jak nodded and looked around. For her only using it every so often, it looked pretty broken in. "Bathroom's first and only door on the right and there are two bedrooms on the left, so use whatever," she said and smiled, disappearing downstairs and leaving Jak alone.

"Well things could definitely be weirder."

"Your telling me! Who knew that it would be Keira?! And to top it all off when she had do the JET-Board thingy, she was a total bitch!"

"Will you just shut up?!" Jak yelled out and walked to the bathroom. "If Keira is still the same she'll want me ready quick."

"That's just putting it nicely."

(Line Here)

Keira sat on a stool for the time that Jak was upstairs. When she heard footsteps, her heart stopped. She spun the stool to the door to the flat upstairs and watched the door.

She had to stop herself from gasping when she saw Jak come down. He adjusted the sleeves on his wrists and pulled on a pair of black gloves. The entire uniform fit to every muscle on his body with ease and it gave him a toned look.

"It looks better on you than it did Marc," she said and turned the stool to the helmet.

"Was Marc your old racer?" Jak asked and walked up to her.

"Yeah, he was great, but you beat even his high score for JET-Board racing. And you did it so easily too."

"That good huh?" Jak asked and ran a hand through his hair. "Jeeze no pressure."

"I'm sorry. I just kind of had a personal connection to Marc and his grandfather."

Jak looked at her and bowed his head. "I get it."

Keira looked at him and raised a brow. "Get what?"

Daxter chuckled and perked his ears into the conversation. "I'm sure you'll get it," Jak answered. "You're smart."

"If you think I was in love with Marc, you don't know me," she said and crossed her arms.

Jak looked at her with his brows drawn, his instincts were calculating the trust that he could put into her words and he found it hard to be judging the woman he had fallen in love with.

"Attention all race crews," the intercom announced, the voice was crisp and clear, and sounded like a female announcer. "The first race of the season will start in thirty minutes. Please report to your stations."

Keira walked to the helmet and gave it to Jak. "We'll finish this later. But right now, I need you to win. You have no idea how much I need this," Keira said and looked at Jak pleadingly.

"I'll do what I can," Jak said and took the helmet putting it on his head and followed Keira."


	27. Thunderstruck

**Risen Angel: Holy crap!!! I'm so sorry for not updating for what feels like forever! I didn't mean it! I really didn't!! I've been working on The Revelation and if you want you can totally hate me for all eternity, I'm not kidding. pleasedont!! Anyways, I've been sort of thinking about how the races for this would go and I think I have a pretty good idea. I was kinda brainstorming one day on the way back from something and I think it'll work. Anyways… onto the story!!**

Chapter Twenty-Seven – Thunderstruck 

Jak followed Keira onto the track and she seemed really confused for some reason, as if unsure if this was the right set up for the track. "Oh you got to be kidding me," she groaned out as she reached their pit stop.

"What?" Jak asked, and suddenly felt like he was going to be put onto the spot.

"They didn't tell me it was going to be this type of race! Which basically means that we could be here for days!" she cried out and looked at Jak.

"What type of race is it?" he asked and became glad that Daxter wasn't going to be riding on his shoulder.

"It's more or less a sort of death race. Last one alive wins. Or to put it in race terms, last zoomer still flying wins."

"So I get to beat people up."

"But position also counts. No one uses weapons, but what I must say is, is the race will get to be really tough."

"Please," Jak said and shook his head, "nothing could be as tough as what I went through." Keira sighed at his stubbornness and then she sighed again. At least he was alive, that was what she was always dreaming for. "So how does this whole death race thing work?"

"Take out the zoomers that you're racing against in any way. Do whatever it takes to win," she said and pulled her hair back into a pony tail. "If you know for a fact that the zoomer isn't working right, come into the pit stop."

"Why?"

"Because as long as you're in the pit stop, the racers can't hit you. They would be disqualified as soon as they tried to destroy the zoomer. And since this race can literally last for days, if you ever get tired just pull into the pit stop and get some rest."

Jak nodded and walked over to the zoomer he was going to be using. "Who introduces the races?" he asked and turned to her slightly, his vision was obscured by the glass of the helmet, but it was going to be worth it if any one recognized him.

"The two female racers who won their race championships. They both are very good and I wish they were on my team, but no such luck."

Jak smiled beneath the helmet and ran his gloved hand over the handle. It had a good grip and the throttle was nice. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve to win the race," he said and smirked. "I just have to make a slight adjustment to these gloves and the race will be over real quick."

"What does adjusting the gloves have to do with the race?"

"You'll see later on in the race."

"That's real comforting Jak," she said and sighed.

Jak smiled and ran his hand over the seat of the zoomer, it was gonna be fun.

~*~

Half way into the race there were about six racers left. Jak held his spot in first and dodged any attack from the other racers. They couldn't even keep up with the speeding elf and he smirked as he zapped the ground with Dark Eco every few seconds to make the zoomers behind him go out of control.

Jak continued to smirk as he went through the track, the easy win was so close and there weren't many zoomers left to deal with. He smiled as he went into the tunnel and he stopped his zoomer. The other racers were staying a long distance away from him and he didn't want this race to last for days as Keira had put it.

He laid down a thick layer of the Dark Eco that he zapped the ground with and waited for the zoomers to speed by him. "Jak?!" Keira yelled into his headset. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Winning this damn race!" he yelled back and smirked as the remaining zoomers all hit the Dark Eco, their zoomers going out of control. Jak let out a small chuckle and sped off crossing the finish line. "That's how you win a race."

Jak cracked his knuckles and zoomed off to the pit stop. "What did you do?!" Keira yelled and it echoed into his head set. Jak cringed and blinked in pain. "Oh. Sorry." She took off her headset and looked at him.

"I just won the race. And you said that the rules were that any thing counted, just no real weapons. I used the only thing that I could use."

"And what exactly is the only thing that you could use?" she asked and glared at him. "The Eco charts were through the roof!"

"I'll tell you later. Right now, we have to face the crowds," Jak said and pointed to the crowd. Keira stiffened and nodded. Her cheeks flushed slightly at the sounds of screaming fans. "Been awhile since you won?" he asked and smirked beneath his helmet.

"Yeah," she mumbled and looked at the entrance to their pit stop. "Ready to face the cameras?"

"Um…" Jak mumbled and gulped. "I'm not taking off the helmet."

"That's fine. I'll do all the talking."

"Fine by me," Jak said and stood behind Keira, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Alright!" one of the female announcers said happily. "It's so good to see you again on the track Keira!"

"It's great to be back," Keira replied and smiled to the red head.

"Alright, we'll be on the air in five… four…" the camera guy said and fingered the rest of the numbers.

"And we're back!" the other announcer said and smiled brightly. "And we have here with us the winners of the quickest Death Race ever! Keira, manager of the Black Arrows, and her new driver."

"So Keira," the first announcer said and turned to her, "what's it like to be back?!"

"It's great! You have no idea how good it feels. Especially being out for such a long time," Keira answered and smiled.

"So, I'm sure everyone is wondering out there, who's the new mystery driver?"

Keira blushed and licked her lips. "I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later, but right now, we would like to keep our privacy."

"Oh, come on Keira! Why not let us know?!"

"Well Stacy," Keira started and looked at the blond announcer, "I'm sure you would like to stay off the map for a few days before people found out about a world breaking win. Don't you think?" Stacy's face broke into a bright smile and her eyes threw death daggers at Keira. "Well, I'm glad we got to talk, but for right now, we're just gonna get going."

"Oh no you don't," Stacy said and smiled to the cameras. Jak looked at the blond and glared at her through the dark glass. He cleared his throat and she looked at him. Her brows drew together and he cracked his knuckles menacingly. "Well I think our time is up!" Stacy said and looked to her co-host.

"Yes!" she exclaimed in a happy tone. "We'll be back after this commercial break!"

"And… we're out!" the camera guy said and lowered the camera, forgetting to turn off the recording button.

"You bitch!" Stacy yelled and glared at Keira.

"And how am I being a bitch?!" Keira yelled back and stomped her foot. "I'm doing what I think is right. Now if you don't mind, me and my racer are out of here. Now good night!"

Keira turned away from Stacy and her co-host and took Jak by the arm, leading him away. They walked out of the race track and back into the garage and Jak took off his helmet, taking a deep breath. "What the hell was that?!" he asked and shook his head, his hair getting out of it's helmet hair mode.

"I can't stand Stacy!" Keira yelled and growled.

"I thought you said you wanted them on you're team?!"

"Not Stacy! She's a bitch that deserves to die! That's a fact!"

Jak took a step back and looked at her curiously. "Alright. Never mention Stacy again," he said and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, the only reason why I don't want anyone to know who I am right now, is because I'm with the Underground and I've done some things that would get you in trouble."

Keira drew her brows together in curiosity and raised her hands. "I'm not even gonna try. Stay here as long as you want. You can even watch the race if you want, it's gonna be on for the rest of the night. Unedited, it should be entertaining!"

Jak quirked a slight smile and nodded. "I think I'll watch it," he said and headed upstairs.

~*~

**Risen Angel: I have nothing against any Stacy that might read this! Keira does though!**

**Keira: I do not! I gave her a fair shot to join my team!**

**Risen Angel: Whatever gets you through the night Keira. What do you think Jak?**

**Jak: I just wanna watch the race!!**

**Risen Angel: Yeah yeah. Of course you do! Anyways… review!! Let me know if you like the race idea I came up with. All the races will be different, don't you worry about that!!**


	28. A Piece of the Seal

**Risen Angel: Holy crap! I'm glad that you liked the last chapter. And I really am sorry for not updating in a timelier manner. My Supernatural fanfic took up all of my summer I still have to do my AP Lit homework so… yeah.**

Chapter 28 – A Pice of the Seal

Jak laughed as he watched the interview. "Oh God is that priceless!" he laughed and pulled on his boots. Daxter perched on his shoulder as Jak buckled the leather.

"Who knew that Keira had a potty mouth?!" Daxter exclaimed and laughed. "I watched this the first time and it's still hilarious!"

"What's hilarious?" Keira asked and looked at them.

"Our interview," Jak said and went back to the very end after the commercial break. "Camera guy forgot to stop recording." Keira watched in shock as Stacy yelled at her and then Keira yelled back and stormed off with Jak in tow.

"Oh God," she gasped and her jaw dropped, her face blushing. "I didn't even know!"

"Don't worry. Neither did Stacy. And you totally just bitched her out," Jak said and stood up, smiling to Keira. "I gotta go though. I got some things to do."

Keira nodded and walked with Jak as he exited. "What the?" Jak started and his jaw dropped.

"Hey," Ashelin said and waved to them. "I watched you race today."

"How did you – "

"I have my ways," she said and put on a stiff smile. "You were pretty amazing out there."

Keira rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Um… Thanks?" Jak said and looked at Daxter. "Ah… Keira, this is Ashelin… she a uh…"

"Everyone knows who she is," Keira snapped and glared at Ashelin.

"And Keira's a –"

"A friend," Keira finished, her glare deepened at Ashelin. "A very good friend."

Ashelin bit her lip and turned to Jak. "I just wanted to say thanks. For helping me with the tanker, you saved a lot of lives Jak." Jak put on a quick smile and Ashelin walked away. He looked to Keira and saw her glare, he shrugged. "Ever since I was a little girl," Ashelin said before leaving and the two looked at her. Keira's glare just deepened further. "I've looked down at the streets of that ridiculous palace, and imagined a better place."

Krimzon Guard started to walk down the street of the garage entrances and Ashelin turned back around. "By the way, they're hunting for you. I'd watch out for Erol," she said and put her hands on her hips. "I can't protect you from him."

Daxter whistled as she walked away and smiled happily. "She's a betty!" he exclaimed and looked down at Jak. "And she likes you Jak! Not that I can account for her tastes. I bet you'd love to pin some medals on her chest huh?"

Keira gasped and glared at Jak. Jak hit his face and saw Keira walk to her hiding place for the Rift Rider. He grabbed Daxter by the tail and glared at him. "What?!" Daxter yelled out and glared at Jak.

"You're an idiot!" Jak yelled and dropped him.

"Hey! There's no need to be violent!" Daxter exclaimed and wiped away at the grease on his fur.

Jak looked at the curtain and closed his eyes. "Jak!"

Jak looked around and saw his communicator pop out. "What?" he yelled out and saw that it was the Shadow. "I mean what," he said and changed his tone of voice.

"Come to Onin's tent. I need you to do something," he said and the communicator went back into his pocket.

"Yeah," Jak said and looked at the curtain, really wishing that he had the balls to go to her. "Come on Dax."

~*~

Keira bit her lip to hold back the sobs. She heard the garage door close and she threw her wrench at the wall. "Fuck!" she screamed and sobbed into her hands.

~*~

Jak walked up to Onin's tent and licked his lips before going in. "The birdbrain and I were just talking about you Jak," the Shadow said and Jak saw that Pecker was on the log on Samos' head, poking at the mushroom growing on it. Onin lifted her head as they came in. "Onin is very proud of what you did."

"What I did?" Jak asked and looked at Daxter, who shrugged.

"What you did… what you'll do… it's all the same," Pecker answered and flew onto Onin's bowl like hat.

Daxter rolled his eyes and said, "Will you quit with the de ja-voodoo stuff!? It's creepy!"

Onin started to sign and Samos looked at her. "Onin says that you must find of the Tomb of Mar."

Pecker glared at Samos and said, "Even now, Praxis seeks the tomb, but only aaaarrrk… The one true heir of Mar can open the Tomb's Seal."

"We believe the Kid is the key," Samos said and looked at Onin.

"The prophecies say the true heir of Mar must face the ancient Oracle. He alone must circumvent the cunning tests of manhood. He alone must weild the Precursor Stone, thereby unleashing the… Geez Louise, fossil lady! Stop with the snooty mythic talk, already! You know that it hurts my lips!" Pecker yelled and glared at Onin.

"Why is Mar's Tomb so important?" Jak asked and crossed his arms over his chest.

"The fabled Precursor Stone is rumored to sleep within the Tomb, stupid!" Pecker yelled as Onin signed the answer. "I added the "stupid" part!" Jak and Daxter glared at the bird and Onin gaped. "The Precursor Stone contains vast Eco energies." Daxter mimicked the bird and crossed his eyes. "It can be used for great good… or… great eeeevil!" moved his feathers to emphasize the "evil" and looked at Samos. "I just love saying that last part."

"The Baron wants the Precursor Stone for himself to rule the world. But he is playing with forces that he does not understand."

"Okay Pecker," Jak said and looked at Daxter, who was slowly falling asleep on his shoulder. "So how do I get this Precursor Stone."

Pecker opened his mouth. "First, you must go to the Dig," Samos answered and Pecker pouted, "and find the Luker Totem. Onin and I have learned that a piece to the Seal of Mar is contained within it's ancient carvings. You must find all three pieces of the Seal to open Mar's gate into the canyon."

Jak drew his brow together and realized that his piece was safe and sound with him. "I'll be leaving then," Jak said and nodded his head once, leaving the tent.

~*~

Jak put his gun away as he walked up to the huge wooden totem. The symbols were of odd things, probably gods that the Lurkers knew of. Jak pointed at the top of the totem where the glowing piece of the Seal. "I got it!" Daxter said and started to walk, but then stopped. "Wait a sec. I think you should go get the thing this time!"

Jak sighed and started to climb up the totem, trying not to knock it over. Jak reached the top and grabbed onto the base of the Seal. He yanked on it and it popped right off, but the very top of the totem flew off. "Be careful up there Jak," Daxter called from below. "It looks a little dodgy up there!" Daxter yelled out as the top landed on him. Jak put the part of the Seal in his pack and dropped down.

He started to walk away and Daxter yelled at him. "Help!" Jak looked down at him and Daxter seemed to look at him. "It's a curse isn't it?" Jak smirked and pulled off the top.

"Don't worry Daxter," Jak said with a smirk. "It can't get any worse."

"I blame you!"

Jak just smirked.

~*~

**Risen Angel: I just realized that I missed the mission where Krew has you go into the sewers to get the Ruby Key. Let's say that Jak did do the mission. I just don't feel like trying to fit it in now, since ya know, we're almost to the biggest part of the story. Ya know… the Tomb! Yeah…**


	29. Mar's Seal

**Risen Angel: Alright… now that I'm back into the groove of things. I did mention in the last chapter that there will not be the sewer part where you go to get Mar's Ruby Key. I'm sorry to anyone who was looking forward to Daxter complaining about not having pants. I really am, it's just that I forgot all about it and I already got past the part where Krew comes to get the key and everything. So to make up for it, we're also going to skip the really annoying mission where we have to take out that tanker, you know the one that Kor give you. I hate that mission. It's my downfall. But also, I will not forget about the mission where you get paired up with Jinx, if I did, I'm pretty sure I would hate myself. And because I'm amazing and everything, we're going to get to play Onin's Tent Game thingy… I love that game!!**

**Jak: Do you ever shut up?!**

**C.P.: Finally someone agrees with me!**

**Risen Angel: I'm being ganged up on! Someone help!!**

Chapter 29 – Mar's Seal

Jak walked to Onin's tent. Stupid tanker that refused to go down kept him busy for almost the entire day. All he wanted was to sleep, like none other. But every time he fell asleep the past few days he felt a pain rip through his chest and it woke him up with a cold sweat. He kind of wished that Lorelie would come back and tell him what he's supposed to do, but he couldn't ever fall asleep.

Jak saw Kor in the tent and he seemed to be saying something. As Jak got closer it became clearer. "Expecting that little boy to save us is folly!" Kor yelled and Jak walked further in. "At his age, he's no match for the Metal Head leader." Kor turned to the exit and saw Jak. Jak crossed his arms and glared at him. "Oh… Jak. We were just talking about Samos' plan."

Jak glared at the old man and Onin started to sign. "Onin says your voice sounds very familiar," Pecker said and crossed his wings over his breast. "I bet you two golden oldies go way, WAY back, huh?" Onin glared at Kor. "Onin needs you to prove yourself, Jak. You've shown your brass, and your brawn. Now you must show your brains as well. Frankly I think she's pushing it, but I'm not the boss. Beat this test and the third piece to the Seal will be revealed."

Jak looked at Onin quizzically and asked, "What is the test?"

"Sit and she will explain it."

Jak took a few tentative steps toward her and sat cross-legged on the ground in front of her. Daxter sat on the ground next to him and watched with anticipation. "All right, now what?" Jak asked and Onin raised her hand, touching Jak's forehead. "What the…"

Onin smiled and started to sign quickly, shapes appeared in Jak's eyes and he mumbled the name of the shape. Pecker swayed in her bowl and Daxter stared at Jak. His mouth moved slightly as he said the name of the shapes that were invisible to everyone else, except for Onin, Jak and Pecker.

About six minutes later Pecker fell from his perch. "Geez lady, I think he's had enough!!" he yelled and pressed his wings to his head.

Onin stopped signing and Jak sat blankly, his eyes at half cast. She raised her hand up to his forehead and he jerked awake, but hunched over. "My head hurts," he mumbled and looked at Onin, who was smiling with a weird look. "What now?"

Onin signed and Pecker gaped. "Are you kidding?! You're an evil mythic lady!!"

"What?" Daxter asked and looked at Jak.

"Oi! I can't believe she kept this from you!" Pecker exclaimed and picked himself up. "Take out your two piece of the Seal," he said and flew up to her bowl-hat. Jak took his pack off and pulled out the two pieces, the huge circular base still had the glow to it and the half of the key he had glowed brightly.

Onin signed and blue sparks flew off of her fingers. The two pieces flew up into the air and Jak scrambled back, slowly getting onto his feet, Daxter climbed up to his perch. Jak huffed out a growl as the other half of the key floated up to the base and other key. "Are you kidding me?!" he yelled and growled.

"That's what I was talking about," Pecker said and sighed. "Behold! The Seal of Mar is now complete!" Onin pushed the completed Seal to Jak and he took it with a smile on his face. For some reason he recognized the Seal and it was highly comforting to see. "Onin says that the three artifacts that you retrieved from the Precursor Mountain Temple… arrrk… are relics from an ancient Light Tower."

"Then give me the relics, cause I gave 'em to you," Jak said and Onin signed quickly, the three artifacts floating into Jak's pack. "Man is that thing gonna be heavy."

Pecker continued and said, "Old songs tell how the Light Tower once shined down on the actual sight of Mar's Tomb! I sing one of these songs for you!" Pecker cleared his throat and sang out, "From the mists of time, Mar's light would shine!!!!" His voice was highly off key and everyone covered their ears.

"Woah there iron lungs," Jak said and stopped the singing. "Just tell us what we need to do."

"Cretins with no taste huh?!" Pecker spat and huffed. "You must take the three artifacts to Mar's gate. Only then will the Light Tower rise and reveal the tomb."

"Thanks," Jak said and walked out. "To the Temple," he whispered and sprinted off into the direction of the Temple.

~*~

Jak carefully walked off of the elevator, watching out for any Metal Heads that had come back. Luckily there were none. He walked up to the Precursor door that he saw before and the Seal started to glow brightly. Jak held it up and it floated on it's own to the center of the door. Once the Seal was in it's spot, the door opened. Jak took the Seal and walked in.

"Let's see what Mar left behind for us to face," Jak said and took a deep breath. "If anything his tomb will be worse."

"Are you saying that we're going into his tomb?!" Daxter asked and looked shocked at Daxter.

"Did you even hear Kor? He wants to send that kid into the tomb!" Jak said and glared ahead of him. "No way am I letting that kid go alone. Let's just get to the Tower."

Jak started to run through the passage and they came up to a huge area. "Well I think we found it," Daxter said and gaped at the huge area. "I call the Gear!" Daxter rummaged through the pack and pulled out the triangle shaped Gear. "You get the other two!"

Jak nodded and Daxter leapt off of Jak, leaping over to the Gear's place holder. Jak ran over to where the Lens would fit and as soon as Daxter put the Gear in, the huge Tower that would hold the Lens started to move. Jak threw the Lens to the Tower and it took it greedily. "That's good," Jak mumbled and sprinted over to where the Shard would go. The little slot that would hold the Shard waited for it to be filled. Jak put the Shard into it's spot and it went in.

Jak took a step back and watched. The Tower reached it's full height and the Shard lit up. The beam created by the Shard went up to the Lens and it reflected toward the city.

~*~

The civilians of Haven City walked in their normal pattern, although at this time of day, almost everyone was at home, or on their way to the grave yard shift at the factory. Above a bright blue light flew across the sky and rocketed itself into the statue of Baron Praxis. People in that area screamed and sprinted away from the memorial.

The head of Praxis' statue flew up into the air and landed on the side, then rolled off. The wall of the memorial crumbled to the ground and left behind was a door.

~*~

**Risen Angel: Well there ya go! And what' s even more fantastic is that we're almost done with Act 2!!! I just gotta get past the second battle with Praxis and things are gonna look good!!! All the rest of this act will be in the story, so stay tuned!!!**


	30. Mar's Tomb

**Risen Angel: Okay… this may or not be the last chapter before Act 3 begins, but I will more than likely try to fit all of the things that happens in Mar's Tomb into this chapter. This chapter is easy to title!!**

**C.P.: Once again… do you ever shut up?!**

**Risen Angel: I happen to like talking whether or not you like talking to any body.**

**C.P.: Do I need to bring you-know-who back into this?  
**

**Risen Angel: Voldy?! Cause I would love to see him! But the musical version… he's hotter!!! :blush:**

Chapter 30 – Mar's Tomb

"Jak!" the communicator yelled out and popped out of Jak's pack. "You did it!"

"Did what?" Jak asked and followed the path back out of the temple.

"You showed us the way into the Tomb!"

"What?!" he asked and looked at Daxter. "Where is it?!"

"In the main square in front of the Palace Fountains," the responder answered.

"What?" Jak asked his voice monotone.

"You're going to need to get here quick, otherwise the Baron will notice something."

"Where is it?"

"Baron's Memorial statue," the communicator replied and Jak hit himself in the face.

Daxter moaned and started to fake cry. "Not fair," he mumbled and got into the pack.

"We'll be there," Jak said and put the communicator away. "It can't be that bad Dax."

Daxter mumbled Jak's response in a snotty way. "You're freaking hilarious!" Daxter snapped and Jak chuckled lightly.

~*~

Jak walked up to Praxis' Memorial, he glared at the fallen apart statue and put on a small smirk. "Serves him right," Jak mumbled and walked up to the door that was now visible. The few townies that were out avoided it, probably trying to remember the legends of old.

The door opened for Jak and he walked in, the door slamming shut behind him. "Nice to know that we're welcome," Jak said and walked forward, not exactly knowing where he was going. He pulled out his communicator and said, "Samos."

"Yes?"

"Where are you?"

"There's an elevator. Take it and it will bring you down. We're waiting for you."

"Alright," Jak said and put the communicator, finding the elevator and taking it down. He looked at the carved walls and the flash back that he had from before flashed in his eyes. He grabbed his head and pushed the flash back away. When he opened his eyes they were at the bottom of the elevator and Samos was staring at him.

"There you are Jak. Good to see you boy," Samos said and Jak looked at the others that were there. Jak saw the Kid was there and he glared at Kor.

"Why is the Kid here?" he asked and the boy looked at Jak and smiled.

Kor turned to him and Samos said, "The Kid is the key to opening the Tomb. Without him we will never be able to enter."

Jak huffed and walked up to the huge door. Above them was a Precursor Idol and it just stared at them, the empty eyes tearing their souls apart like most did. The Kid stood in front of Jak and Jak put his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"You did it Jak," Samos said and looked up at the angry teen. "You actually found Mar's Tomb."

"Great," Jak snapped. "So now what? We send this poor kid into a meat grinder?"

"This is the day I've long awaited," Kor said and Jak looked at him, a glare set on him. "To finally hold the Precursor Stone in my hands." Jak at this very moment just didn't trust Kor, there was this gut feeling deep inside of him that said not to trust the old man.

Samos moved Jak's hand from the boy's shoulder and said, "You must be cautious child. The Tests of Manhood are sure to be fraught with peril, and Mar's heir must face them alone."

Daxter jumped off of Jak's shoulder and said, "Its okay Kid! You can do it! It's just a deep, pitch black, "sure to be filled to the brim with death" old tomb. I wouldn't go in there."

Jak wanted to hit himself in the head, but the headache all of a sudden raged. Above the Precursor Idol started to wake. "Welcome, heir of Mar. Finally the chosen one stands before me. Enter and prove yourself worthy to claim the ancient birthright."

Jak looked at the door that opened and started to walk forward. The others watched him and the boy grabbed his hand, following him. It wasn't that he wanted to go into the Tomb to fight Praxis, he knew that this was Lorelie was talking about, but that the flash back and head ache were telling him to go in.

As Jak took a few steps in the Idol made sudden movements and yelled, "NO! This child is too young to face the tests!" Jak looked down at the boy and the door started to shut. Jak spun around and watched it. The option to go in was still there, but not everyone could go in.

"No!" Samos yelled. "You must do something Jak!"

Jak looked down at the kid and he looked up at him with fear. It was as if he was telling him to not leave him with Kor. Jak closed his eyes tightly and pulled his hand away from the kid. He didn't want to, but he knew that the kid would get hurt in the Tomb, it didn't matter what he did. "Sorry kid," he mumbled and sprinted to the door.

"Jak!" Daxter yelled and followed him. "Remember the "sure to be filled with death" part!" Jak rolled under the closing door and Daxter screamed, running back to Samos and the kid. Jak grabbed Daxter's tail and pulled him under before the door closed.

The door slammed and the kid stared at it. His lip quivered with an unusual fear. He never cried while he was near Kor or Samos, but knowing that the one person who did care for him didn't want him to be near him hurt him. The boy raised his hand to the door and he faintly heard Samos say, "He's gone to face the tests!"

"No," Kor said his voice sullen and it shook fear into the boy's core, "he's gone to his death."

The kid gasped silently and shook his head. "No," he mouthed and tears formed in his eyes.

"Freeze!" the loud and echoing voice of the Krimzon Guard yelled and the kid froze. He didn't want to go to Kor, the old man scared him and he knew that Jak saw his fear, who wouldn't. He ripped off his necklace and hid it in a pocket. He was smart enough to just look like a normal kid.

~*~

Jak stood up and grunted. The headache pulsed through his head and he couldn't see straight. "Jak?" Daxter asked and Jak's head throbbed.

"My head," he grunted out and fell to his knees. He clenched his eyes shut and put both of his hands to his heads, trying to push the pressure away.

"It's the Eco Poisoning. It's finally showing its true colors," Daxter said and touched Jak's arm. The elf yelled in pain and froze. "Jak?"

_*Flash Back*_

"_You old witch!" he yelled and glared down at the woman sitting on the floor. Her legs crossed in a comfortable position. "Why would you do such a thing?"_

"_Because the boy later on in your legacy will have Eco Poisoning. He will not be able to make it through your Tomb because of the Eco everywhere."_

"_Then give him something!"_

"_Mar, you know that Eco Poisoning is very strong."_

"_Of course I know! My body is dying because of it! I would never have gotten it if it weren't for those damned Eco Bombs!"_

"_Then you also know that a Precursor will have to give him a blessing. It's the only reason why you are still alive."_

_Mar sighed and nodded. "I will make sure that one of the Precursor Idol's gives the boy the blessing."_

"_You don't know what descendant it is though," the witch said and Mar glared at her. "It will be hard for the Idol to give the boy the blessing if it doesn't know what descendant to give it to."_

"_What's the payment?"_

"_Your life."_

"_You will get my life when I know for a fact that my family will stay safe."_

"_Fine. It's a deal."_

"_Who's the descendant?" Mar asked and glared at the witch._

"_His name was given to him by a Sage, because the boy was never named. Tell your Idol to give the blessing to a young elf who is almost dying in their presence."_

~*~

Jak gasped and felt a zap of energy strike him. The headache faded to a dull throb and he could finally see again. He could hear Daxter saying his name and the faint echo of Daxter's voice. He blinked and sat up.

"God was that trippy," Jak said and rubbed his forehead.

"You're alive!!" Daxter exclaimed and smiled. "I thought I lost you there for a second."

"You almost did," Jak said and stood up. "When we get out of here, we're going to get some food. I'm starving!"

Daxter smirked and jumped up to Jak's shoulder. "Man I wish I updated my stock of food in your bag."

"What?" Jak asked and looked up at Daxter.

"What do you think I do in there when we aren't doing in there? Hide from the KG? I eat!"

"Only you would," Jak mumbled and shook his head as he walked toward this walkway. "This is gonna be fun."

Jak looked out over a huge chasm and over on the other side after walking down a curving ramp, was a maze that looked deadly and filled with traps. "Good God!" Daxter exclaimed and gaped at the maze before them. "Good luck with that dude!"

"Oh my God," Jak mumbled and ran his hand over his face. "Let's get this over with."

_*Flashback*_

"_Why are we building the maze?" the construction worker asked and looked up at Mar. _

"_Because if whoever in my family in later generations needs to come here for the Precursor Stone once it is fully grown then I will know that they will always be stubborn enough to try and get it. Even if this maze is confusing."_

"_But we've lost ten workers already. Isn't there an easier way?"_

"_No," Mar said and looked at the walls going up in preparation for his death. "I don't expect for any of the people who bring me into my tomb to know the way out, but if my wife comes give her a map. I don't want her to die in my tomb. This is death trap for unworthy souls."_

"_You're loads of fun," the man said and chuckled dryly. "I'll make sure that she gets a map if she does come."_

"_Good. I trust you enough."_

"_I'm glad that I have your trust sir. It's truly an honor."_

"_Don't do that," Mar said and looked down at the man._

"_Do what?"_

"_Grovel. Only politicians do that. And they only want me to pass unworthy laws so then the populace are in more turmoil. I swear that the way things are going with the politicians my city will be under dictatorship in 200 years or less."_

"_From what you've told me sir, I believe that your sons will keep the peace in a good way."_

"_Unless they bare females and they marry a worthless man."_

"_Are you saying that females are useless?"_

"_No. Just in choosing their husbands," Mar said with a smile, "Although I'm glad that my wife chose me instead of the other useless suitors."_

"_I'm glad that you will die happy at the least Mar," the worker said and sighed as he watched another wall go up. The maze was confusing and they still had to have a Precursor write out Mar's Legacy on the walls. "When is your Precursor coming?"_

"_Now," Mar said and sighed. "Tell you're workers that the Precursor will finish the rest and more than likely make it more confusing."_

"_I'll be sure to tell them."_

~*~

"Alright then," Jak said and stepped out of the maze. He ended up in front of a door that was huge and was slowly opening for him. "Huh? Maybe these flashbacks are good for something."

"Are you having flashbacks Jak?" Daxter asked and looked at Jak with a curious look.

"Only recently," Jak answered and went through the door. "They all are of Mar and the building of this place. When the Eco Poisoning was hitting me hard I had a flashback of Mar visiting some old crone and demanding to know who this descendant was. Guess it's me."

"That's creepy. Are you sure the crone wasn't Onin?!"

"Yes. Remember that Mar had to have been around about 200 years ago. No way is Onin more than 80 years at the most."

"Good point," Daxter mumbled and crawled back into his place in Jak's bag.

"You're lucky you're my friend Daxter!" Jak yelled and his voice echoed in the huge hall.

"Don't yell!!" Daxter yelled and his voice echoed even louder. Jak snickered and  
Daxter covered his sensitive ears. "You're a jerk."

"I know."

_*Flashback*_

"_What's this room for?"_

"_To judge the athletic finesse of my descendant," Mar answered and glanced at the colored floating pieces of floor._

"_That's it?"_

"_It also makes a lot of the pieces fall if you land on the right plate. So you can't really go back."_

"_That's a test?"_

"_Yes. Because the obstacle that comes next just gets worse," Mar said and sighed. "I only wish I didn't have to do this so much."_

~*~

Jak landed on the other side of the chasm without little trouble. "Huh? I'm starting to like these visions more and more!"

"You're going to depend on the visions aren't you?" Daxter asked, his voice was worried, but in truth as long as the vision were keeping them from getting killed, he didn't really care.

"I'm going to use whatever to be able to get what we came for Daxter. There's no doubt about it!"

"I'm not gonna argue with you. We're still kicking and breathing, so I don't have much to complain about."

"You aren't complaining. Wow that's definitely a sight!"

"Oh shut it!!" Daxter yelled and slapped Jak across the head. "And you deserved that!"

"I probably did," Jak said and continued on.

~*~

"You had better tell me where they are Torn," Praxis yelled and grabbed the ex-commander by the neck, forcing him against the wall.

"Why?" Torn spat and gasped in a breath.

"Because I'll kill Ashelin if you don't."

Torn stared at Praxis and shook his head. "You wouldn't," he said and dragged in a breath.

"Try me," Praxis said with an evil grin on his face.

"Under your memorial," Torn gasped out and he regretted it. He didn't even know if they had made it in. And if they did… who ever was in there was in for a big surprise.

"Thank you," Praxis said and let go of Torn. "You won't regret it."

Torn gasped in rough breaths and whispered, "I already do."

~*~

Jak watched as the second beam of Blue Eco shot itself across the whole of the tomb and hit the Seal of Mar on the door. He had lost Daxter in a single part of the place and Jak was really worried. He sprinted through the maze and skidded to stop at the open doors that he had never seen before.

He gulped and walked up the few steps, seeing Daxter. "Where have you been?!" Jak exclaimed and looked down at Daxter.

"I had a hairy experience no thanks to you!"

Jak shook his head and the sudden gears moving around them echoed through the room…

~*~

**Risen Angel: How do you like that for a cliff hanger!!? Also... this will probably one of the last updates for awhile. School has started and it's going to be really hard to juggle this, Pre-Calc, Advanced Placement Lit, and Chemistry. Those are my biggest classes, so I'm really sorry for the cliff hanger, you'll just have to bare with me for a little bit longer. I promise!! **


	31. Mar's Secret

**Risen Angel: Well… after this long and extended break I believe it is time to finally update Never Gone. Once again, I'm sorry for it, it's just that I have so many things going on at once in my life. I have upper class math and English. My brain is a little numb.**

Chapter Thirty-One – Mar's Secret

Jak watched as Blue Eco flowed through the crevices of the ancient tomb, heading towards the Precursor Idol, the gears moving in a more rapid pace. Jak turned his gaze to the Precursor Idol and the dormant machine rumbled, "Welcome young warrior. Many eons have passed since our hope burned so brightly. Today, you have proven yourself worthy of Mar's Legacy."

Daxter smiled brightly and exclaimed, "He's talking about me! Thanks your holy-statueness!" Daxter bowed happily and Jak rolled his eyes. "This tomb wasn't so tough!" Jak scoffed at Daxter's effrontery.

The Idol seemed oblivious to Daxter's speech and said, "What you are about to receive contains grave power, and with it comes great responsibility. Eons ago, the Precursors waged a terrible war with the Hora-quan, those creatures that you refer to as "Metal Heads". Driven by their dark leader, the Metal Head legion destroyed our great civilization, and now they swarm the universe unopposed, looking for the last relics of our power. Mar tried to hide the Precursor Stone in this tomb to protect it from them. It is our last hope, and you were chosen to keep that hope alive."

Jak looked down at Daxter who shrugged and said, "I think you've got me confused with someone else. I just want the Stone."

"It is time to fulfill your destiny!" the Idol proclaimed, ignoring Jak. "Behold!" The Precursor Stone glowed brightly and flashed a green like light in the room.

"Sweet!" Daxter exclaimed and chuckled. "Let's grab the goods."

Daxter starts to go across the second bridge and Jak stopped, his instincts straight out said not to go onto the bridge. "Daxter stop!" Jak yelled out and a huge red flying machine came through the doors, landing on the platform in front of the Idol. Jak glared at the man inside and saw Praxis smirking at them.

"You fools! You led me right to the Precursor Stone!! You're pitiful Underground friends were no match for my guards above! Now I will gain the power to crush my enemies!" Praxis' machine stomped down onto the ground and crushed the bridge to the Idol. "And after claiming the Stone, I'll begin with you!"

Jak sneered and stood ready for any attack that Praxis would throw at him. Praxis glared at the boy and instead of firing at him, he shot at the pillars on the little piece of battle ground that Jak had. Jak looked around him and cursed.

"Only Praxis would pull a chicken move like that," Jak said and told Daxter to get into his pack. Jak glared and backed as far away as he could from Praxis. "Whatever you do Daxter, do not come out, do you hear me?"

"Got it!!" the ottsel exclaimed and burrowed himself deeper into the pack on Jak's back.

"Do you think," Praxis yelled out. "that you will be able to survive in this tomb?! I have been looking for this tomb for years and you find it on a whim!! I've been ready for this day for years!!"

Jak looked around to see if he had any kind of advantage. There weren't many but if he could, he could change slightly enough to have a better grip on the stone wall that the tomb was made out of. He looked behind him slightly to see how deep the chasm below was. He cringed at the sight slightly, only because he didn't even hear the bridge from before hit any kind of ground.

He looked back at Praxis, who was busily trying to drill the binds that were holding the Precursor Stone. Jak felt his eyes change black and he could literally see the weakness of the robot that Praxis was in. Jak smirked and flexed his hand, and he felt the claws snap out, without little thought or pain.

"This is gonna be fun," he growled out and sprinted to the edge of the little platform, leaping into the air and falling to the wall of the platform that Praxis was on. Jak threw his claws into the stone to catch himself and skidded to a stop.

"What the hell Jak?!" Daxter yelled and popped out of the pack.

"Be quiet," Jak hissed and slowly started to climb up the wall. "I'm gonna sneak up on Praxis."

Jak concentrated on going up, quietly and efficiently. Once he was high up enough to where he could just jump up he stopped. He trained his ear to hear what Praxis was going on about.

Jak could hear the grinding noise of the drill going at the Precursor Stone and Praxis was talking outloud. "He's dead! He tried to get to me and he failed! Oh the glory! Oh the irony! It's amazing!! There is no need to even be here now!"

Jak smirked and leaped out of the pit, scraping his claws on the stone in a dramatic way. "Oh the irony!" he grated out and jumped up to the machine, digging his claws into the gears and pulling out items that seemed totally random. He glared and forced all of the Dark Eco energy he had into the claws, trying to destroy the circuits in the machine.

"You stupid boy!" Praxis yelled and he made a machine claw grab the Stone, pulling it out of its socket. "You're too late! I have the Precursor Stone now!! And there's nothing that you can do about it!"

Jak growled and tried to throw one of the Eco Arrows he learned.

_*Flashback*_

_She cried hard for days when she found her husband lying in bed, the Eco Poisoning had finally caught up wit him and he had died in his sleep. He had been in bed for the past few weeks, so she found it to be an out of place way for him to die. He had always said that he wanted to die on the battle field. To die a heroes death, but she was glad that he died in a much more peaceful way. _

_She was in the Tomb, watching as they placed his body in the Precursor Idol, to watch over the Precursor Stone, he had said. She sobbed quietly, feeling the comforting hand of her oldest son on her shoulder. Her daughter wrapped her arms around her in a hug. "Don't be sad Mom," her daughter said. "He died happy and you know it."_

"_She's right Ma," her son said. "And if it weren't for the Eco Poisoning he would have lived a lot longer. You know this. And it's not his fault that he died."_

"_I know," she said and leaned into her children. "It's just sad that he had to die like this. It's not the type of death that he wanted."_

"_And would you rather have to bury a mutilated corpse than a whole one?" her son asked and looked down at his mother._

"_No," she answered and bowed her head. "You will make a wonderful ruler son."_

_He smiled somberly and hugged his mother and sister. "I'm not king yet," he said and buried his face in his mother's graying hair._

~*~

Jak stopped and Praxis zoomed out, flying away with the Precursor Stone. Jak snarled at the retreating robot and turned to the Precursor Idol. "Mar is here?" he asked out loud and walked toward the Idol.

"What?!" Daxter asked, popping out of the pack and looking at Jak.

"Mar was put into the Idol. This means that…" Jak trailed off, his eyes widening in shock. He walked toward the now dormant Idol and touched the spot where the Precursor Stone was. He looked around and saw that near the bottom of the Idol there was a small crevice that could open to a small opening. He knelt down and started to pry it open.

"You sure you want to desecrate Mar's Tomb Jak?" Daxter asked and looked around. "What if there are angry spirits or something after this?"

"Nothing can be worse than prison Daxter. And even then we've faced some pretty weird things."

"Good point. But are you sure?"

"I need to know. It's just something that I have to know!"

Jak pulled out the cover and saw a small coffin inside. The tube that he saw was all the evidence that he needed. "He is the energy for the Idol."

"What?!"

"You never pay attention! Samos used to say that most Precursor Idol's get their energy from a very powerful channeler. That's why not all Precursor Idol's had Power Cells. Don't you get it?"

"Are you saying that Mar was such a powerful channeler, that he no joke, is the power behind this huge behemoth of an Idol?!"

"Yes."

"Well, whoever is his heir, has some big ass shoes to fill!!"

~*~

**Risen Angel: That is all that I will give you. Because seriously, I don't want to run into Act 3. I want to start the next chapter with Jak going back into the Prison and freeing his friendlies. Also, do not expect the next chapter to be up the next day. I have AP Literature. I have Pre Calculus. I have a lot of things going on in my life and my brain is ready to melt. I will not be updating for a long time. Do not expect an update until like Christmas Break. Or Thanksgiving! All breaks from school will probably have lots of updates. That or they will be random. But no joke, there will be very few updates!! And if you don't like what I did with a Precursor Theory, then you shouldn't be reading this, because I'm taking the entire Precursor Theory into new depths for me. Because Naughty Dog didn't even hit the surface. So once again, do not expect updates!!!**


	32. Suicide Missions

**Risen Angel: I'm not dead, just really zombie like is all… Anyways… we're into Act 3 and that means that we're almost there, hallelujah! This starts right after just like the game.**

Chapter Thirty-Two – Suicide Missions

Jak clenched his hands into fists. If it weren't for him, the kid would still be with the Underground and more than likely still safe. He wanted to punch himself for being so stupid and leaving the kid with Kor. Jak knew from the moment he had met Kor that he was not to be trusted.

Jak pushed open the door into the hideout and stormed into Torn's little hideaway office. Jak pushed the curtain away from him and looked for Torn, seeing him sitting on a barrel in the corner. He glared at him and asked, "How did the Baron know that we were making a move for the Stone?" He tried to keep his voice calm, but Torn had always made sure that no one could trace their signal.

"It's my fault," Torn said and Jak looked at Torn and then up at Daxter, who was popping his knuckles in preparation for tackling Torn.

"What?"

"Praxis found me outside and threatened to kill Ashelin for spying. His own daughter…" he mumbled and shook his head. "I couldn't risk that, even for the Underground."

"Right," Daxter said and tapped his claws together. "Very good thinking. Except for the fact that Praxis has the Precursor Stone now and he can do whatever he wants!!"

"You also know I'm sure that everyone is now in prison! And that they took the kid!!" Jak yelled and glared at Torn. He felt guilty for leaving the kid behind, but it was Torn's fault that the KG even showed up.

"They are more than likely being held in the more secure area of the prison. It's where the high class prisoners are kept. Also the most dangerous."

"That's where I found you Jak!" Daxter exclaimed and Jak gasped. "It's really hard to get into though… but those KG probably know a way!"

"I'm thinking of what I could do," Jak mumbled and ran a hand through his hair. He could try and commit suicide by trying to break into the prison and trying to get them out, but he'd more than likely get killed. There are too many guards there to even try and do that. He could use one of the guard's uniforms, but he didn't even know if that would work.

"You could try and break into the prison, but it'd be suicide."

"I had already thought of that," Jak mumbled and sighed. "What about using a guard's uniform and going in undercover?"

"That would be the easiest way, but then there are all the codes that you need to learn how before you even get in."

"Torn, think about it. I'd be a newbie. I wouldn't know all the codes. And how many of those new Krimzon Guards do you honestly think would know all the codes?"

"I did!"

"Well that's you. People today are very lazy. They will only remember the codes that are most important. Do you still know the most important codes?"

"Yeah… but wouldn't you Mr. Prison?"

Jak glared at Torn and turned away from him. "I'm going to get a uniform. And while I'm at it, I'm going to think about what I heard while in prison."

Jak stormed out of the hideout and looked around, finding a guard that was really close to the gutter. Jak leaped into it and waited until the guard was just above him. Jak grabbed onto the man's legs and pulled him in, punching him in the face and knocking the guy out. Jak smirked and stripped the man of his uniform, putting it on and cringing at how constricted he was.

"Well that was easy," Daxter mused and chuckled. "Better hide him good."

"I'm gonna let Torn deal with the bastard," Jak said, his voice different through the mask of the helmet. "God this is going to be hard to get used to." Jak took the unconscious man and hefted him over his shoulder, climbing out of the gutter and back toward the hideout.

Jak walked in and tossed the guy into Torn's office. "Well, what do you think?" Jak asked and crossed his arms, Daxter sitting on his shoulder.

"Get rid of the rat and you look just like every other Krimzon Guard."

"Works for me," Jak said and pressed communicator into his ear, listening to the overflowing current of communication. "Seems that this channel that the guy was on is the busiest. What's the one that we have?"

"It's not even on their system. Vin made it up for us."

"Well then things could get tricky. What is our main plan?"

"You get into the prison, and find the place where you were at. Take your regular communicator with you. When you get where you need to be message me and I'll figure it out from there."

"And why should I trust you?"

"Because you and I both know that Praxis would have killed Ashelin! It'll be a tough act. Sure you wanna do this?"

"I have someone to save," Jak growled and walked out of the hideout, leaving Daxter behind. He wished on some level that he could take Dax with him, but he knew that as soon as one of the guards saw him on his shoulder, that he was not really in the guard. Jak marched his way to the one entrance that he knew of and tried to process every message that went through his head piece.

Jak cringed at the routine checks that kept piercing his ear. He walked into the fortress and the constant streaming stopped. He sighed happily and walked toward the electric fence, hearing the code he was supposed to type in. Jak quickly pressed the numbers and letters, trying to keep up. Now he knew why most of them had memorized the code. Jak passed and the fence degraded. He walked into the next sector and saw a few Krimzon Guard walking around, having a light hearted conversation.

Jak glared ahead of him and tried to ignore the anger that was boiling inside of him. "Did you hear?" one guard had asked another loudly. "That an old guy got away from the guards that was with the Baron when they got into Mar's Tomb?"

"No, but that is kind of weird isn't it? That an old guy got away, but everyone else was left behind. Makes no sense really."

"You're not the only one confused," the responding guard said and chuckled. "I gotta get going."

Jak continued on his march through the prison and looked around, trying to figure out where he was at. He wished that there was a map he could look at, but so far he was out of luck. He continued to wander around, seeing familiar things, the narrow halls that held prisoners that were on death row. He gulped, trying to keep his gaze forward.

"You think you're almighty?" a woman snapped at him and he stopped, looking at her. "Think that just because you're on the outside that you can get away with everything?"

Jak took a deep breath and recognized the tang of Eco on her and all around here. "It's not my fault you're in here," he said and marched off, ignoring the screams that followed him in his wake. "Fuck," he cursed under his breath and clenched his hands into fists.

"Stop! Please!" a young voice cried out and Jak froze. He had heard that many times. All the time for two years. Even from his own mouth. Jak turned toward the cry and tried to think of what he wanted to be stopped.

"You little fuck!" a voice yelled and Jak recognized it. Erol. Jak glared and almost took a step forward, but he knew that if Erol had a guard stop him, then he would be caught. Jak turned away and closed his eyes, blocking out the cries of pain and agony coming from the cell. Jak finally exited the hall and recognized the next one with a painful memory.

"Shit…" Jak mumbled and slowly walked down the hall, seeing the empty cells just gave him nightmares. He looked into each one, seeing that the last remaining prisoners were still kicking. He heard the silent whimpers as the sound of the metal boots he wore echoed down the hall. He fought hard to keep his demeanor the same, his pace even and above all else, to not try and comfort these people. It would give them false hope, just like Takita had done to him, but at least he had a companion throughout most of the time.

The door behind him opened and he stiffened, but continued to march on. The gait that was behind him was familiar and it stopped at a cell that held a prisoner. Jak cringed and left, he couldn't bear to hear the screams that were about to unfold. Jak looked at the new room he was in and saw that it was the room that Daxter had taken him out of. "Well shit… this was pretty easy," he said and smirked. He walked toward the dormant warp and sighed.

Jak took the turned off communicator and turned it on, looking around, making sure that no one was in the room. He walked toward the cells that were more tightly secured in the large room and he tried to look through them, but the opening was too high up. He huffed and quickly paged Torn.

"Where are you at?"

"Main room of the cells. It's not pleasant to be here!"

"I get it. Vin is going to open the doors to their cells and you have a few minutes to get to them and then get them out."

"Go ahead," Jak said and put the communicator away. He waited and saw the cells that he had just looked at open. He ran over to them and tore off the helmet, letting it clatter to the floor. He looked in each one and saw a couple of elves that looked like they belonged in an asylum, but they could probably thank Erol for that, or whoever put them in that state of mind. He reached the two closest to the warp gate and saw the Shadow, he skidded to a stop and went into the cell. "Holy shit!" he exclaimed and fell back.

"Good to see you too!" Samos yelled and Jak scrambled back. "I've added six rings to my trunk waiting for you to get me out of here!"

"But how can there be two of you?!" Jak asked and looked at the Shadow and at Samos. "It's nice to see you and all, but uh… what the hell?"

"Language!" Samos yelled and Jak shrunk.

"Where's the Kid?!" Jak yelled and looked at the Shadow. The man shrugged and Jak stood up, looking into each of the cells again, he pushed aside the lunatics in the cell that tried to attack him. Jak shook his head and punched the metal of a cell wall. "Precursors, damn it all to hell!"

"Jak! What did I say about language?!" Samos exclaimed and Jak walked toward them, keeping his head bowed and eyes cast away from both of them.

"The warp gate is open. It will take us to the Power Station."

"You know I don't like -!"

"Would you rather have to deal with the Krimzon Guard?!" Jak exclaimed and saw Samos' shocked look. Jak closed his eyes and knew instantly that Samos saw the sudden change of his eye color. "Just get going."

~*~

Erol walked out of the room and toward the main area of cells. He looked around and saw that the insane cells were open, but they were not out, which meant that whoever had given them their "treatment" had done their job wonderfully.

He walked to one of the cells and opened it, grinning as if he had won the best prize in the world. "I have something that those Underground people want," he said and walked in, looking at the corner of the room, seeing the little brat curled up in a ball.

"You are more trouble than your worth," Erol seethed to the kid and bent down to be eye level to the boy. The kid hid his face away from Erol and the older elf snarled. He took the boy's hand and gripped it tightly. "Little bastard!" he yelled out and snapped the boy's wrist.

The boy cried out silently and Erol let go of his wrist. He glared down at the boy and had the urge to kick him. "Fucking Mute," he hissed and left.

The boy held onto his wrist and tears spilt out of his eyes. He hated Kor. He hated the Shadow and right now he hated Jak. He cried quietly and tried to ignore the throbbing pain coming from his wrist.

~*~

**Risen Angel: Gotta love the angst. Anyways… this is totally random and for some reason I believe I will actually finish this fiction by winter break… at least I hope I will… Oh and the whole "The Kid hate Jak" thing that going on right now is kind of obvious. Jak had the choice to keep the Kid safe, but he left him behind… kind of an oxymoron actually… and ironic… at least I think… Anyways, review, because I want your truthful opinion on whether or not I should keep the angst!**


	33. Unknown Future

**Risen Angel: Thought I'd be nice and post a new chapter for Never Gone… we're getting there and I came to the conclusion that this baby of mine is going to be over forty chapters long!! Which that means that this will be the longest "story" I've ever had!! Be proud!! Anyways, this takes place right after the prison thingy…**

Chapter Thirty-Three – Unknown Future

Jak landed on his knees, getting up to get out of the way for Samos and Samos. He blinked curiously at the prospect of it and looked around the Power Station to see where Torn was. He started to take off the armor and tossed the pieces onto the floor. "Never wearing that armor again," Jak yelled and kicked a piece of it away.

"Nice to have you back Jak," Torn said and walked toward him. "Who is he?" Torn looked at the two Samoses and Jak sighed.

"He's Samos," Jak answered and Torn looked at him funny. "Yeah, don't ask me. Ask them." Jak pointed his thumb at them. "Where's Daxter?"

"Oh, he's somewhere around here. Been scaring Vin for fun."

"Sounds like Daxter," Samos said and grunted as he walked toward Jak. "We need to find the Kid!"

Jak heard the sound of Samos lifting his staff and swinging it at his head. Jak ducked and the staff waved over his head. "Insolent boy," Samos yelled and Jak leapt away, avoiding the swings of the old sage's staff.

"It's not my fault! I looked for him!" Jak yelled and caught the staff, "And if I could, I would go back in time and take the Kid with me into the tomb!"

"You would've risked taking the kid into Mar's Tomb to keep him safe?!" Torn bellowed and Jak flinched.

"Would you rather have him in the KG's clutches, than mine? For all we know the kid could be dead! There is no proof that he even existed!" Jak yelled back and the Shadow walked up. "Please tell me that you agree! You were there!!"

"A mistake like this is hard to forgive, but the Kid opened the tomb. Our priority now should be to disrupt the Baron's forces!" the Shadow said and sighed.

Samos growled and yelled, "No! The most important thing to do is to find the Kid!"

"Listen you old dried up leaf!" the Shadow exclaimed. "I run this outfit! So you sit back and shut it!"

"You! I'm older and that makes me wiser!"

"Oh will you two shut it!" Daxter yelled and jumped onto Jak's shoulder. "My head already hurts as it is just from the idea that the two even exist!"

"You didn't find them," Jak mumbled to Daxter and the orange rat laughed.

"Oh that must've been great!"

"Haven't been hit yet," Jak joked and turned to Torn. "I'm going to go and talk to Onin. Call me if you need something done worth doing."

Jak left and cringed when he heard the two sages going at each other. "I'm gonna go insane!" Jak growled and stormed through the Industrial Section. "Never gonna get any sleep, going to probably be probed by Samos because of my Eco powers, and my heads going to have a bruise from his staff!"

"You didn't have to clean for him!"

"Yes Daxter I know," Jak mumbled and ran a hand through his hair. "I just hope that Onin has some answers, because with those two fighting, we won't be getting any answers out of them. If anything they'll argue over who's right about the answer."

"That is true," Daxter mumbled and sighed. "Man, things just keep on getting weird the longer we're here."

"You're just now figuring that out? I'm getting powers that shouldn't even exist and how much do you want to bet, that if we were back in Sandover, I would end up being the damn Sage of this substance?" Jak asked and sighed. "Just my luck."

"We do seem to have an odd sort of luck."

"We're almost to Onin's, we better have a good excuse for what happened."

"No need," a Hispanic voice said. Jak looked over his shoulder and saw Pecker flying up to him. "Onin is trying to understand the fate that you have chosen and she had gone over what happened ten fold."

"Wow… I feel for you," Jak replied and chuckled. "So you're not mad?"

"Oh I'm mad. I wish I could pummel you for your stupidity, but I can't. Onin has made it impossible for me to do so."

"So what are you here for? I'm on my way to Onin's right now."

"Because Onin is not taking any visitors. She's too distraught to sign coherent sentences. But she did tell me to explain the two Samoses."

"And?" Daxter asked, giving a glare to the talking bird.

"They are time twins. Onin hasn't seen this in a long time, but they are the same person, just from different time periods. What happens to the younger of the twins happens to the older."

"So if the Shadow were to die, so would Samos?" Jak asked and Pecker nodded.

"That means no more cleaning," Daxter gasped and his face turned into a sinister smile. "Quick Jak! Go Dark and kill the Shadow for… uh… stupidity!"

"No."

"Aw, come on! You'd save me from a life full of cleaning!"

"No."

"You're no fun."

"It's not a joking matter! Was there anything else?"

"Not really, but Onin kept signing about how the future will be changed and everything that once would have been perfect is now in chaos."

"That doesn't sound like a good thing. What can I do to change it?"

Pecker glared at Jak and said, "You can go back in time and take the Precursor Stone, before Praxis ever can!"

"I can't do that."

"Than you can't change anything," Pecker said and flew away.

"Well that's daunting," Daxter said and sighed. "So now what? I don't think either of us want to go back and talk to Torn or the two Samoses."

"Check and see if there's any messages from Krew. Haven't had to talk to the pig for awhile."

"You really want to talk to that pig?"

"If he has something to do, why not do it?"

"Because the man wants to eat me!"

:But yet you're perfectly fine taking on Metal Heads that want your blood?"

"No! You are! I hide in your bag if you haven't noticed!" Daxter exclaimed and glared at Jak. "I go with you because I don't want to clean for Torn!"

"True," Jak mumbled and sighed. "Just check will ya, maybe we should check out the Oracle."

"I like that idea!" Daxter yelled out. "Quick! The Water Slums!"

Jak chuckled and started off to the Water Slums district. "Been awhile hasn't it?"

"Most definitely," Daxter agreed and settled onto the shoulder plate.

~*~

"I still don't know how people can even live here," Jak mumbled and made his way toward the Oracle house.

"These people are pretty tough Jak. Don't forget that."

"I know," Jak replied and opened the door to the Oracle.

"I have waited for you," the Oracle boomed and Daxter snickered. The door slammed shut behind them and Dark Eco launched itself to Jak. Daxter bounded off and watched. "You have started to see the past and what you have seen is the truth. To change what you have caused comes with a terrible price. You passed the tests of Mar, now prove it. Use your powers to defeat the Metal Head Leader. You will have complete and utter control. Even now the Metal Head Leader knows that you can beat him! He will use all of his power to destroy you before you gain the true knowledge."

Daxter cringed at Jak's howl of pain and looked at the Precursor Idol. This was possibly the longest that Jak had been in this transformation state.

"To give you some idea of how to eradicate our enemy, we shall give you some of your memories, allowing you to glance into a part of your childhood that has been nothing more than a blur to you. Use this knowledge that we give you to kill the Metal Head Leader, once and for all."

Jak was dropped to the ground and seemingly unconscious. Daxter though back to his own childhood. Never before had Jak been there until he himself was about six and even then Samos had made sure Jak was well sheltered.

Jak hissed in a breath.


	34. The Heart of Mar

**Risen Angel: Hmm… who knows, maybe I will have this story done by Christmas break, I've been on a writing spree for it!! Anyways, I promised a long time ago that I would do the sewer mission with Jinx because I forgot totally about the sewer mission where Daxter complains about not having pants. That was a flub on my part, but here we go!! I will not forget!! Even if it does seem to take forever!**

Chapter Thirty-Four – The Heart of Mar

_Jak looked down to see why his feet were not on the ground. Seeing what was below him made his breath hitch._

_He saw a huge Metal Head, or what he though was a Metal Head. It was larger than any of the monsters had had fought before, making it hard to tell if what he saw was truly coherent. Then he saw large Dark Eco blasts followed by random spurts of Yellow Eco told him that it was in fact the Metal Head Leader._

_Was he seeing his future, or his past?_

"_You prick!" someone yelled and the whole scene disappeared._

"_What?" he asked out and fist collided with his face._

"_You've changed everything!"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I said to let Praxis take the Stone! Not the Kid!"_

"_Lorelie?" Jak asked and was kneed in the stomach._

"_Of course it's me! Who else can invade your thoughts, you dunce."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_How could you let the Krimzon Guard get a hold of my brother?! How could you?!"_

"_I would gladly go back in time and take the kid with me into Mar's Tomb, but I can't! So get over it!" Jak yelled and pushed Lorelie away. "It's not like I didn't try and look for him when I freed the others!"_

"_Well he's not dead! You should be happy about that!"_

"_Why do you say that?"_

"_Because I know things. And you want to question me on power," she scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Pitiful."_

"_Of course I'm going to question! Why wouldn't I?"_

"_Because you should trust me! At least give me that much!"_

"_I'm having a hard time trusting anyone right now. When you give me a good reason, then I'll trust you."_

~*~

Jak sat up with a gasp and looked around him. He felt he painful feeling of his claws and more of his horns sink back. "God my head," he complained and saw Daxter staring at him. "What?"

"Were you having a vision?" Daxter asked, slowly crawling towards him.

"Yeah, but it's over."

"What was it about?"

"I'm not sure, it's either my past or my future, though I'm pretty sure it's my future. I saw myself battling the Metal Head Leader. No way it was my past!"

"Eh, who knows," Daxter replied and shrugged. "By the way, Keira called while you were out. She was babbling, but she did say that there's a race."

"What?" Jak exclaimed and shot up. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I just did," Daxter answered and jumped onto Jak's shoulder. "A little eager to see the little mechanic are we?"

"Oh shut it!" Jak groaned and leaped onto his JET-Board, hovering over the murky water, speeding a long to quickly get to the Stadium. He weaved expertly through the crowds of people who were making their way to the Stadium to watch the race. Jak leapt off of the 'Board as he ran up the steps to the garage.

"Quick Jak! To the apartment!" Daxter exclaimed and jumped off of his shoulder.

Jak bounded up the stairs to change and Daxter wanted to laugh. He curled into the box of other uniforms to get comfortable for the long race.

"Been a long time since I've been here," a musing voice said and Daxter's ears perked up. That voice wasn't familiar. He picked his head up and saw the bright yellow uniform of the Krimzon Guard Commander. Daxter ducked back down and heard Jak come back down.

"Please have your helmet on," Daxter begged in a whisper and heard Jak growl. "Please don't out."

"What are you doing here?" Jak growled and Daxter slowly cam out. Jak's head was covered in the helmet.

Erol turned to the speaker and chuckled. "So you're now the racer of the Black Arrows. Did you hear what happened to the last one?"

"I've heard rumors," Jak answered and crossed his arms. He was as close as he could possibly be to Erol and he couldn't do anything to him. He clenched his hands into fists and ground his teeth together.

Erol scoffed and looked around. "You sure are lucky you know," he mused and Jak burrowed his brow. "If it weren't for Keira and her knowledge you would have been dead by now."

Jak scoffed and shook his head. "You're pitiful."

"Am I? Am I really?" Erol asked and Keira came up. "You're lucky now, but some day Keira will be my mechanic."

"You stay away from her!" Jak growled and Erol chuckled. He left and Keira sighed.

"He's one of the better racers," she sighed and Jak growled. "What?"

"It's Erol!"

"So, he wins!"

"But he killed your old racer! Are you blind?"

"No! All I'm saying is that he's a good racer! Is that so bad?!"

"Yes!" Jak yelled and took off his helmet. "Because he –"

"What?! Because he what?!"

"You wouldn't understand."

"I'm sure I would. Besides, the Jak that I know wouldn't be hiding secrets! Like why you're working with Krew!"

"I need Krew's connections to get to the Baron!"

"And then you're changing! What's that?"

"If it weren't for me changing I would've -!" Jak started and shook his head. "You know what, I'll just race. I don't have to put up with this!"

Keira shook her head. "Fine. Race. It's the only thing you're good at," she stated and crossed her arms.

"Shut up! If you knew half of the pain that I went through –"

"-But I won't Jak! And I never will until you tell me!"

Jak sighed and back away. "Attention all participating Class 2 racers," Jak put his helmet back on, "the next race will be starting in 15 minutes. Report to your stations."

"I'll tell you when I know that you won't try to stop me. Until then, just give me the benefit of the doubt."

"The race is just a one-lapper. Get in front and make sure that you have a good defense."

"Like I said, give me the benefit of the doubt."

~*~

"You're lucky you won!" Keira yelled and raised her hand to punch him

"How would you feel if I told you that you're father is alive and well?"

"I would kill you if you're lying."

"Just gotta face the press and we're in the clear. I'm gonna leave Daxter with you because I have a job after this, but I'm sure he'll be fine."

"So mystery driver," the announcer said and Keira forced a grin onto her face. "Gonna let everyone know who you are?"

"No," Jak answered and crossed him arms.

"Well why not? You have all of Haven as a fan!"

"Watch the news and I'm sure you'll figure it out," Jak replied and turned to Keira. "Shall we?"

"Are you two dating?!" the woman asked.

Keira blushed as they walked away. "Just smile," Jak whispered, leading her into the garage.

"What is wrong with you?"

"I won, now I just kind of need to spend some energy," Jak answered with a shrug.

"So your spending your energy by being nice to me?"

"Would you rather I be mean?"

"Not really," she answered with a blush.

"Then why are you arguing against it?"

"I don't know."

Jak smirked under his helmet.

~*~

Jak grinned as he walked into the bar, but that smile faded quickly as he saw Krew glare at him. "What are ye smiling at boy?" Krew growled.

"I'm smiling at nothing," Jak answered and met Krew's glare.

"Well smile on yer own time. I've got another sewer job for ya. There's rumor around that Mar's statue has another juicy secret. In his cheeky face it's said that the Heart of Mar is hidden there. Three of my boys have cleared some of the sewers, go down there and escort them the rest of the way."

"And is there an award?" Jak asked, pulling out his gun and cocking it.

"Greedy son of a bitch aren't ye? There's a gun upgrade for ya in the shooting range when ya come back. Make sure all three boys come back safely."

"And if one dies?"

"You'll be dead."

"Fair," Jak said with a smirk and holstered his gun. "I'll be back soon."

"Sure ye will," Krew mumbled and Jak shook his head while walking out.

~*~

"There it is!" the man named Jinx yelled. "Hot damn is that fucker big!"

Jak sighed, the urge to kill all three of them had been on the edge of his mind for the entire trip. He killed the Metal Heads that were in the sewers in such tormented ways so then he didn't have the urge to take his anger on the bastards. "Just get the damn gem will ya?" Jak asked and rubbed his hand over his face, trying to ignore every calculating thought that was making it all the more easier to kill them all.

Dark Eco Poisoning would be best, make them suffer being incompetent and not being able to defend themselves. It would look like a Metal Head did it, which was a plus.

"Don't get yer panties in a bunch," Jinx replied and took off his pack that was filled with explosives. The other two did the same and they set the bags near Mar's Statue.

Jak didn't understand for a second, but then Jinx set off a detonator. "No!" Jak yelled and the explosion set off, throwing him into a wall. "Fucking bastards," he growled, seeing Mar's head slide toward him. He saw a huge chuck blown out of his cheek.

"Thanks for the escort buddy," Jinx yelled waving the gem at him. "We'll take the gem back to Krew for ya!"

Jak felt a sudden urge of Dark Eco form in his hand and it transformed without any thought. Jak jumped up and sprinted after them, they were already out of the area and had destroyed the elevator.

"I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill Krew. I swear it!" Jak growled and paced back through the sewers, going back the way he came.


	35. Erol's Challenge

**Risen Angel: Yay!!! And in the fact that I have beaten Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier… I will post a new chapter!! NaNo just to let you know has gone bad and I've actually lost interest in that story. It just doesn't even make sense to me anymore. Anyways… enjoy some Jak and Daxter…**

Chapter Thirty-Five – Erol's Challenge

Jak went to the shooting range. The smell of burning gun power was a familiar smell to him. "Hey Jak," a female voice said and he tried to place it just by the sound. The pitch was familiar and there was a sort of nervous vibration to it, like she was scared of him. Tess.

"Hi Tess," he said tiredly. He was tired and last time he was tired he was out for the count for about two days. "Krew's supposed to give me an upgrade. Is it here?"

"The Peace Maker?" she asked and Jak looked at her in surprise. "It's right here. He sent me down her to give it to you. Not to be mean or anything, but you look like you need a shower."

Jak lifted his head slightly with a small smile. "A shower would be nice," he said and Tess grinned happily.

"Come with me," she said and handed him the gun mod. He put the mod onto the gun and the mod changed to something similar to Sig's. "Something you should know about you Peace Maker. You've seen Sig's right?" he nodded. "Well yours charges quicker, good thing about it is that if you were to hold a charge as long as Sig does, yours would be ten times stronger!"

"That is amazing," Jak said sincerely. "I can't wait to try it out."

"Do you want to try it out now?"

"I'd actually want that shower if you don't mind," Jak said and ran his hand through his hair.

"Okay!" Tess exclaimed and giggled. "There's a hideout nearby and I'm sure you'll be glad to know that this hideout is where the kid always would stay."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because Torn was saying that you are the most broken up about it," she said and licked her lips slowly. She was nervous again.

"Torn needs to learn how to stay in his own business," Jak growled and clenched his hands. _Tess has no idea how right Torn is._

"Oh, well, I'm still sorry about the kid. They should've never taken him."

"You have no idea," Jak mumbled and sighed. It was his fault.

~*~

Jak liked Tess. She was nice to have nearby, and even if he wasn't talking, she was enough. She liked to talk and he was sure that no one ever really listened to her. But he always listened; back when he couldn't talk he listened to everyone and anything.

What he gathered from all of Tess' talking is that her family was loyal to the royal family, always doing what they wanted of the people. When Praxis came, the Guard had attacked all who were still loyal to the family. Tess had to watch her parents die and she ran off. Grew up in the Slums and was raised by the Shadow.

Jak was also very sure that Daxter would like Tess. Daxter would be too preoccupied with trying to talk as much as Tess that he wouldn't be in the way.

Jak slightly wondered if Samos had killed Daxter yet, but that was proven wrong when he was thrown off step by the new weight added to his shoulder. "Nice to have you back Dax," Jak said and chuckled. "How was your visit with Samos?"

"I hate you! You left me with the sadistic man who think its fun to clean and fun to talk to plants!" Daxter yelled and hit Jak in the head. "And you think you can get away with it?"

"I can when I introduce you to Tess."

"Who's Tess?"

"Me!" Daxter looked at the woman walking next to Jak with surprise.

"Why hello," Daxter said and smiled at Tess. "My name's Daxter."

"I've heard," Tess mused and Daxter grinned.

Jak chuckled as the two talked, they talked a lot and he was glad that now Daxter had someone to talk to.

~*~

They continued to talk and Jak was tending a drink that Tess had made for him. Daxter was telling a story and Jak smirked at it. It was afternoon's race, and Daxter was exaggerating every detail. Tess was in awe over the race and then Daxter said, "Great thing is, is that I know who the racer is!"

"You do?!" Tess exclaimed. "He's such a hero!" Jak choked on his drink and started to cough. "Are you okay Jak?" Tess asked and he nodded. "Alright."

They continued to talk and Jak wanted to just shrink from the world in that one moment. He hunched over and closed his eyes. The sudden stench of oily skin, alcohol and what smelt like dead animals hit his senses.

"Hey, back to work!" Krew yelled and Jak sat up, glaring at him. Tess gasped and Daxter frowned.

"She's working beach ball, quit yer yapping eh?" Daxter shot back and smiled back at Tess.

"Ye better watch it fuzzy," Krew warned and got close to him. "Or you'll be another addition to my trophies." Daxter gulped and passed out. Krew turned to Jak and smiled. "Since loudmouth there says that you know the Black Arrows Racer. I want you to make him throw the big race. Make him let Erol win."

Jak flinched at the man's name and shrugged. "I don't know."

"You will make him, do you understand? With him winning races, those townies have a "hero", as some people put it, and they will be betting on him big time. Best time to make easy money."

"I'm pretty sure that he won't throw it. He's pretty good. Better than Erol even," Jak said and promised to himself that he would bleach his mouth if he said that name again.

"Don't you get it!? I own you!" Krew yelled and got close to Jak. "Everyone is expendable."

Jak froze and thought of all the things Krew could get to, but that though disappeared when he realized that Krew had nothing on him. "You have nothing on me," jak said with a smirk.

"You so sure?" an eerie voice asked and Jak stopped breathing. "Miss me Jak."

Jak turned slowly and fear rushed into his blood, everything froze and Jak could only hear his heartbeat thunder in hes ears. "Your aren"t taking me back," Jak growled and he felt his nails dig into his palms and those nails grow into his skin.

"Oh please Jak, do you really think I want you back in prison?" Erol asked snidely and Jak frowned. "With you out here, I can make your death so much bigger."

"What's your point?" Jak asked and could see a smile slowly form on Erol's face. He could feel his eyes change to black.

"I have a deal," Erol said with a smirk, "Make sure that the Black Arrow's racer throws the race and I'll let you live and give you a place in the Guard. But if he doesn't throw the race, I will track you down and kill you."


	36. The Life Seed

**Risen Angel: We're getting there!! It is hopeful that I will finish this before Christmas!! Do you know how awesome that is?! DOOOHHHHH!!!! Oh and New Moon was awesome if anyone was wondering about my perspective from the audience. Though I'm pretty sure anyone who likes the book will hate it because of it missing a few – NON IMPORTANT LINES!!! – Rant over ^-^**

Chapter Thirty-Six – The Life Seed

Over the next two weeks, mission that would have been enjoyable were now pointless to Jak. Every time he went onto a mission his thoughts went straight to how the mission was going to hurt the Baron. A few weren't so bad, like destroying the newer Hellcat Cruisers, that one was actually hurting the Baron. But the pointless missions were starting to become repetitive and seemed to be given to Jak so he would stay out of Torn's hair and away from Krew.

It was the mission that Samos had put him on that was nerve wracking, because he hadn't had to prove himself to Samos for over two years, it was odd.

"Why are we up at basically dawn?" Daxter complained and yawned loudly.

Jak blinked harshly, trying to get the sleep out of his eyes. "Samos wants us to go to Dead Town. He just said to go to his hut. He would give us a call, or something," Jak stifled a yawn.

"Well at least we know where it is."

"Problem is how do we get to it?"

"I'll think of something," Daxter mumbled and curled himself around Jak's neck, using his hair to cover himself. Jak strolled slowly through the city, having stayed at the apartment above Keira's garage and being woken by Samos standing over him ready to hit him. It had been a long time since that had happened and he was surprised. And it took a lot to surprise him.

Dead Town was eerily silent, making it wake Jak up. Normally he could hear what the Slummers called, Screamers. Which from what he gathered, was the screams of the men and women that were killed in the Metal Head attack all those years ago. Ever those Screamers were quiet.

"Daxter get in the pack," Jak said and he felt Daxter slink into the bag.

"Why?" Daxter mumbled through the pack.

"There's something not right. Even the Screamers are quiet." Daxter shuddered and whimpered. "You gonna be okay Dax?" Jak asked and stopped walking.

"There are so many weird noises," the ottsel whimpered and Jak could feel him shake. "There are so many weird cries."

"Just hold in there Dax," Jak said and sprinted to the spot that they had found Samos' hut before. It was a curious thought though; why couldn't he hear the Screamers like Daxter could. He was supposed to be able to hear anything and everything; it was one of the things that made him the perfect weapon. So why couldn't he hear the spirits was very confusing to him.

The hut was very much the same. It was still standing on the towering island, but honestly didn't seem so tall now that Jak had been inside Haven City and it was minuscule compared to the Palace. But it held a sort of power to Jak, like there was some kind of attainable power there, that made it all the more indestructible.

"You got that plan Dax?" Jak asked and shrugged his back to get the ottsel's attention. "You still alive in there?"

"I'm here. The screams stopped," Daxter said and came out. "Wow you're fast!"

"Comes with the ride," Jak said and looked around. He saw a ledge about ten feet up. "Hold on."

Jak bent down and backed up a little bit, flexing his hands, he concentrated to make the claws he had to release. He looked back up at the ledge. The claws shot out and he sprinted to the ledge, jumping and stabbing his claws into the wall and then catching his breath. He pushed himself up and caught the top of the ledge, pulling himself up.

"You alright back there Dax?"

"Oh, ya know… Hanging on tight!" Daxter screamed. "You could've warned me, you ass!"

"What's the fun in that? Besides we're like twenty feet from the hut! How's that for an easy job?"

"How ya gonna jump twenty feet smart ass?" Daxter asked and pointed at the huge gap between them and the hut.

"Um…"

"That's what I thought Mr. He-Man!"

Jak put his hands on his hips and sighed. He looked around and growled lightly. "Things would be easier if the bridge was still here."

Jak looked at where the bridge used to be. He looked then at an old pillar, his mind went straight to calculating how to strike the rock. Where to hit, where to apply the most force? His eyes were everywhere at once. Daxter looked at Jak and thought for a moment that Jak's eyes were like Vin's, calculating everything all in one thought.

"Crazy," Daxter mumbled and Jak snapped his head to the pillar, sprinting to it and punching it at the speed. "Are you insane?"

Jak kicked the pillar as he pulled his hand out of the hole created and huffed, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. "Just watch," he said and the pillar cracked, tilting toward the hut. The pillar crashed down and the end hit the island.

"Damn you're good," Daxter laughed and Jak walked onto the pillar, the stones cracking under the added weight. "I'll call Samos."

Jak easily made it across and by then Samos was yelling at Daxter. "Easy Samos," Jak said and crossed his arms He looked around and a pang of familiarity hit him, like a blow from a Metal Head.

"Ya know, I cleaned this place many a day and now look at it! It looks like the people that had lived in it just let it go! What a waste!" Daxter complained and jumped off of Jak's shoulder.

"What exactly are we looking for Samos?" Jak asked and looked around cautiously; there was something here that just didn't seem right to him. Like some kind of dangerous Eco.

A green light came out of the tree that Samos had grown, saying that the tree was the true source of his powers, but Jak found it hard to believe. "Is there a green light?" Samos asked, his voice penetrating Jak's thoughts

"Yeah," Jak answered, almost robotically.

"Then you can take it," Samos said and Jak took a step toward the light. Out of the tree came a large seed.

"What is that?" Daxter asked and he stared at it. "Is that a seed?"

"That is the Life Seed. You must take it to Onin and she will prepare it for Samos. It will give him the powers to see the forest from the trees," Samos explained and Daxter's jaw dropped.

"So let me get this straight," he started and Jak rolled his eyes. "it's fair to say that by bringing yourself the Life Seed thingy now, that we're the ones who gave you the powers that you have now. We are the ones that helped you become the Sage you are today… And you never thanked us?!"

"Thank you Daxter," Samos replied calmly. "Now go do it!"

Daxter grumbled and climbed onto Jak's shoulder. "You heard the old man, go do it Jak!" Daxter complained and Jak shook his head.

"You are just a glutton for punishment Dax," Jak replied and smirked.

~*~

Jak quietly walked into Onin's tent. She was sitting there with her eyes closed and Pecker was sleeping on the bowl hat. Jak stepped on a large spider and the sound made a loud crunching noise, then a loud gush came from the innerds erupting from the pressure. "Great," he whispered and Onin opened her eyes, pointing at the ground for him to sit. He did so and the Life Seed glowed from the pack.

"Samos told me to bring the Life Seed to you to prepare it for the Shadow," Jak explained for his reason to being at her tent and intruding in her privacy.

She gently touched his forehead and she signed in quick rapid bursts. _"Pecker is wrong about fixing the future. There is no set path and your choices are what makes the path so unknown. Pecker knows this, but it will be very difficult for you to fix this."_

"I understand, but I'm sure I'll be able to survive."

"_I know you will. It's what makes you, you."_ Onin signed and a small smile appeared on her face. _"The Life Seed is a powerful source. There are only six in the entire world. This seed is obviously for the Sage of Green Eco, but the other five are found mainly in the homes where Sages lived."_

"So Sages are not what they are unless they have this Seed?"

"_Somewhat. Some Sages, such as Gol Acheron, were born to have the power given to them. Maia was special, she had a natural talent with Dark Eco and as long as she was near the Seed of Dark Eco she would be able to control it as well as Gol."_

"But why did Gol change so much in body and mind, but Maia changed mainly in appearance?"

"_Gol changed much faster than Maia. Think of your powers; how you can change into a brutal and much more forceful version of yourself; that is Gol. Only he was stuck in that form. You can change. Maia was changing just as Gol was, only she had more control over her thoughts. Gol was crazy to being with."_

"So am I going to end up like Gol?"

"_Come back to me when I have sent Pecker out and when there is no mission of yours that will be pressing time. But I will answer your question, just not right now."_

"I understand."

"_Good. The Life Seed is ready. You may now take it to the younger Samos. My presence was needed to awaken the power inside it."_

"Thank you Onin," Jak said and stood up. "I'll come when I can."

"_Know that I will answer whatever I can."_

"Yes."

Jak walked out and put his hands in his pockets. "My life sucks," he whispered and walked toward Haven Forest. "Samos had better be there."


	37. Confrontations

**Risen Angel: Alright!! To the chapter that we've all been waiting for!! Which will be revealed about half way through… ^-^ See ya!!**

Chapter Thrity-Seven – Confrontations

"Great," Jak complained and looked at the Shadow. "So you're saying that now that Praxis has the Precursor Stone that he's planning on destroying it?"

"Yes. But don't you understand what will happen?"

"I get it! If Praxis does destroy it then everything will be destroyed. I got it. And I plan on totally killing him before he gets the chance," Jak growled and turned on his heel. "I'd get to some kind of hideout if I were you. Things are gonna be getting messy."

Jak ran his way back into Haven City, messages started to appear every few seconds because all members were getting every single call going out. Jak looked at his communicator and saw Daxter had left one. He played it and heard Daxter say that Kor wanted to seem them. Jak glowered and sprinted to the bar.

"Why does Kor want to see us?" Jak asked Daxter once Dax was sitting on his shoulder. He bowed his head when they passed a large group of Krimzon Guards.

"I don't know; some kind of mission at the Drill Platform. But anyone can do it. I don't understand why we have to do it."

"There might not be enough."

"We get to blow something up though!"

"We almost died last time!"

"Ah, but you forget Jakkie boy," Daxter exclaimed and smiled brightly. "We're the Demolition Duo!"

Jak shook his head and grabbed a zoomer. He sped off into the direction of the Power Station.

~*~

"What do you want Kor?" Jak asked as he stormed into the Power Station. "I'm not exactly in a good mood right now."

"Out on the Drill Platform there's another Power Station similar to this one. There is where Praxis makes his other technicians use the Eco gathered there and use it against the citizens and most important us."

"What do you want me to do? Hold the men hostage? Torn won't agree with this, and both Samos' sure as hell won't."

Kor sighed deeply and Jak growled out a breath. He did not like Kor and that was that. Kor seemed to be just some old man, but there was something about him that made Jak's jaw twitch. Some unknown feeling said that Kor was only bad news and Jak believed it. Just like how all the instincts he had were telling him that this mission was a sure fire way to die.

"Go to the Drill Platform, go into the small Power Station there and blow it up. There are explosives in the main room on the top level. They have a long detonation time so you'll be able to get out safely."

Jak bit his tongue and walked over to the warp gate. He stopped before going in and looked at Kor, who wasn't looking at him. "He trusted you," Jak growled and leapt through the gate.

Little blue sparks played on his skin, tingling him and making him slowly disappear. No one really knew how a Warp Gate worked, but what was known was that each gate has an almost overload of Blue Eco in it. When coordinates are put in and it meets up with a joining warp gate, a sort of "warp" opens up. Each warp is different. Some warps are fast and it transports you in the blink of an eye. Others however are slow and that's because of a lack of Eco inside powering it. It's similar to having tiny, small insignificant jolts run through your body, it warms you from the inside out and you then barely even realize that you've already landed on the other end of the warp gate. The amount of Blue Eco powering the warp gate determines how fast the warp is. The less Eco there is, the slower the warp, but with an almost overload of Blue Eco, you barely even notice.

Jak looked around and saw that the Drill Platform was deserted. It never seemed that the place was busy except for the distant sound of drills going on miles out.

"The building is behind us," Daxter said and looked at the tower. "Wow that should be fun to infiltrate."

Jak looked at the building and glared. "I swear, if Kor gets us killed, I'm going to kill him."

"That sounds like a plan Jak!"

~*~

"This has been unusually easy to get through," Dax commented as they walked into the major control room. And Daxter was right, it had seemed as if someone had already been there, cleared the path.

"I don't like this," Jak commented and looked at the large pile of explosives. He walked up to it and looked at the timer. "Fuck!"

He looked around and saw that the only way to get far from the explosives was the way that they had come. Jak then saw a crane stop in front of a window. He charged up Yellow Eco in his hands and flooded it with Dark, firing it at the window. "Hang on Dax," Jak growled and sprinted to the window, stepping on the computers in his way.

As he leapt from the window and to the crane, the building exploded. Jak grabbed hold of a rope that was on the crane and slid down, swinging towards the neck of the machine. He slid down the neck and stopped on the cab. "Fucking old man! I'm going to kill him if it's the last fucking thing I do!" Jak yelled and stormed back to the warp gate.

"Where the hell is he?" Jak yelled and Vin jumped.

"Wh- wh- wh- who?!" Vin cried out and put his hand over his chest.

"Kor! Where is he?!"

"He left! I don't know where and I don't care! Torn can give you a better answer!"

Jak left and pulled out his communicator.

"Jak!" Keira yelled through the device and he bit his tongue. "Where have you been? The class 1 race starts in forty five minutes!"

"I'm getting!" he snapped.

"We almost got blown to pieces thank you!" Daxter added and nodded.

"Well please get here soon!"

Jak took a zoomer and sped off. "As soon as this is over Daxter, we're going to find that old man and give him hell!"

"I agree! How we gonna find him?"

"I don't know. But Torn might. Let's just deal with the race right now."

~*~

"Hurry Jak," Keira snapped and Jak put the track suit over his clothes. "I have to show you something."

"It can't wait?"

"That's why I want you to hurry!"

Jak zipped up the suit and put his gloves on, grabbing the helmet as he left the room. "So what's so important that it can't wait until after the race?"

"You have no patience do you boy?" Samos asked and shook his head. "Heard about your little fireworks gig."

"I'm gonna kill Kor and that is all there is to it!" Jak growled and looked at Keira. "So what is this magnificent thing your showing us?"

"I took old pieces of machinery that wasn't useful and lots of searching to build the Rift Rider. Took me awhile, but I got almost all of it done."

"Wait almost?"

"I'm missing two pieces. Vin told me that I'm missing the Heart of Mar and a Time Map."

"I've seen the Heart of Mar before. I'll get those two pieces," Jak promised and put on the helmet. "Any words of advice?"

"Use all the Eco you can!"

"Why?"

"This is similar to the class 3 race, except that you're pitted against each other and then you have to race one lap. Erol is in this race. Focus on him. And try not to die."

"Oh I got a little message for Erol," Jak growled and went onto the track. "Time for a little payback."

Jak walked into a box of sorts and saw that the other five were in similar boxes. "Please Jak, just be careful," Keira said into the headset.

"You know I will be," he replied and turned around, she was standing on the opposite side of the door.

"And give Erol some hell!" Daxter exclaimed and Jak nodded once.

"Jak will forever be the hero Keira," Samos said and Keira looked at him. "He's a soldier and there's nothing that will stop him."

Daxter looked up at the green Sage and gulped. "Must not know about the Eco Poisoning," he whispered to himself and climbed onto Keira shoulder. "Go get 'em!"

"And before we officially start this event, an honored word from our ruler Baron Praxis and a short playing of Haven City's anthem!"

Praxis' face appeared on every TV in the stadium and he waved, the people cheered. "I thank you all, but please settle down. We are here to watch these men fight in hopes of racing in the last and final lap. Our long lasting champion Erol will be participating this day. And if by some small chance that one of these men beat Erol, they will be rewarded with a month's supply of Eco! And a… … Enjoy! Participants, prepare yourself!"

The screen changed to the memorial statue in the middle of Haven and a loud and boisterous song played. Jak filled his hands with Yellow and Dark Eco, he bent down and as soon as the song ended, cries erupted and the doors opened.

Jak crept along the wall and made his way along, not gaining the attention of any of the other participants. He came up to Erol's station and saw Erol with a smirk on his face.

"Happy to see me Erol?" he called out and Erol looked at him. "Got your message and if you wanna win, you gotta win fair!"

"Didn't think you'd make it to me. The rest are fighting each other, which will, in turn, make them wounded and then they can't race. But your smart."

"What do you mean by that?"

Erol chuckled and answered, "Most newbies just head right into the scuffle, such as those men, but you come to me. And I'm sure you won't even try and fight me."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because I want you to race. And if you're wounded, you can't race. Simple as that," Erol said and pursed his lips. "I'd head to your station. Our race is going to start. And soon."

Jak backed away from Erol and kept his eye on him. Once Erol was out of eye shot, he sprinted to his station and saw that two men were there. Jak channeled the Yellow Eco and brought up Blue Eco, making him faster and he used the Yellow Eco to make his punches deadly. "Erol's mine! Back off!" Jak sneered and punched the man he had in the face.

"First segment is now complete! Two remaining participants go to your zoomers and report to the starting line. You will be racing in a one-lap race. May the best racer win!"

Jak was stopped by Keira and she pulled up the glass of the helmet. She kissed him and he froze. "Leave him in the dust!" she yelled and slammed down the mask. He saluted and sprinted. "He had better win!"

~*~

Jak felt Erol nudge his zoomer again and Jak forced more Blue Eco into his engine. "Come on!" he growled and threw more Dark Eco into the ground, once more slowing Erol. He forced more of the speedy Eco into his zoomer and crossed the finish line.

The zoomer died and Jak got off of it. He looked at his hands and could barely see them. "Fuck," he growled and the screams of the stands echoed in his ear.

"Your prize," one of the female announcers said and handed him a pass into the palace and the written consent of the month's supply of Eco. "Congratulations!"

"Congratulations mystery racer of the Black Arrows!" Jak froze when he heard Praxis' voice. "Face me and remove your helmet. Let all of Haven City know of your true identity."

Jak took a deep breath and finally he could see again. He took the helmet off and put on a smirk. "Surprise," he growled and there was a collective gasp.

"You! You're supposed to be dead!" Praxis yelled and Jak snarled, feeling the fangs pierce through his gums. "But I can see that your time in prison has been satisfactory."

"You can't win Praxis!" Jak yelled and purple sparks flew off of him.

"Don't you get it Jak! All the heroes, long ago, died! Only survival matters! These people; this city; this WAR, is mine!"

"Not while I'm still alive!" Jak yelled and snarled.

"Fine," Praxis said calmly and shook his head. "You would have been useful. Kill him."

The Krimzon Guard next to Praxis aimed their guns at him. He smirked and they lost their sights. "Look out!" one yelled and the transport holding Praxis lifted up.

"I win Jak!" Erol yelled and sped up to him; Jak dove out of the way and Erol crashed into the Eco supply, causing a massive explosion. Jak ran up the wall and scrambled the rest, dodging gunfire. He sprinted into the garage and stripped out of the jump suit.

"Jak?" a voice called out and Jak dove behind a wall, pulling up some Dark Eco. The footsteps came closer and Jak lunged at the person, taking it down. "Jak!" Keira screamed and Jak realized that Keira was the person he tackled.

He panted and fell back, leaning against the wall. "Do you have a room with a window?" he asked and she sat up.

"What the hell?"

"Just please answer."

"Yes. Where do you plan on going?"

"Far away from you."

"What?!"

"It's to keep you safe," he answered and looked at her. "Don't contact me until this dies down, alright?"

"Yes."

"Thank you," he said and took her hand. "I'll be back." She nodded and he let go of her, going towards the window. "Have Daxter go to the Hip Hog when he gets here."

Keira stood up and walked up to Jak. She grabbed his hand and he looked at her. He sighed and opened the window. She took hold of his face and kissed him. He froze for an instant and then hugged her. She wrapped her arms around him and refused to let go.

"Please Keira, I have to go," Jak pleaded and pulled away.

"Please just stay safe," she begged and stuffed her hand in her pocket. She pulled it back out and took Jak's hand. He looked at the sea-shell necklace and gasped. "Promise me by taking this. If you don't stay sage and bring it back, then I'll know you broke it."

"I can't –"

"Yes you can! Now go. The KG will be here soon."

"I promise," he said and climbed out the window.


	38. Weapon's Factory

**Risen Angel: IT'S ALMOST HERE!!!! Be waiting!!! And be like super-duper excited ya'll!!! ^-^ **

Chapter Thirty-Eight – Weapon's Factory

Jak ran to the bazaar and grabbed a jacket, pulling it on and tossing the man the paper with the month's supply of Eco. He grabbed a hat and put it on running away. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and stalked to the Palace. He pulled out the pass and the huge doors opened.

He sighed and tossed the jacket away. "Where the hells are the guards?" he asked and walked to an elevator. Once he was on the elevator sped up and stopped almost as quickly as it had started. "What the hell?!"

He walked off the elevator and saw two guards, armored light, but Jak recognized what kind of guard they were. He channeled a small amount of Blue Eco and sprinted up to them and kicked one.

"Bitch!" one yelled and grabbed hold of Jak. Jak growled and bit the arm of the man. The man released Jak and he dove out of the other's grasp.

"Grab him!" the yelled and Jak flashed out his claws. "It's him!"

One pulled out a shock net that Jak hadn't seen before and the other pulled out some kind of sphere. Jak growled and the net fired, catching him and releasing a current of electricity that made his heart skip a few bets. The sphere was tossed at him and a cage formed around him.

"What's going on out there?" a voice yelled from the headset of the two guards.

"Caught the wanted man, ma'am."

"Bring him in. I have something to say to him."

"Yes ma'am."

The currents of electricity dulled, but continued making Jak shiver with the shocks. The cage disappeared and the two men grabbed hold of Jak, pulling him into a room.

"Well, never thought I'd ever have to see this," a woman chuckled and ordered the men to stand guard outside. They left and she turned the net off. "How are ya Jak?"

Jak opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Ashelin?"

"Nice to see you too. What the hell are you doing here anyways?!"

"Looking for the Precursor Stone."

"Why?"

Jak shook the net off and looked around. He walked toward the throne. "Praxis is going to blow it up."

"No he's not!" she yelled and pulled out her gun. "Who's side are you even on!?"

"Look if he blows up the Precursor Stone, we all will die!"

"You're lying!" she yelled and took out her more compact communicator. "Vin!"

"What?!" he yelled through the device.

"You know all about the Precursor Stone, right?"

"Yeah. I did my Ecotorial Doctrine Thesis on Ancient Precurian Physics. Why?"

"What would happen if – let's say – the Precursor Stone was cracked open?"

"Well if my math is right – which is all the time – with enough force and in the right spot, theoretically if the Precursors Stone was to be cracked open it would… Destroy everything!"

"What?!" Ashelin exclaimed and Jak smirked.

"Yeah. Thanks for giving me one more thing to worry me at night. I'm gonna go throw up now. Bye-bye."

Ashelin dropped her hand and looked over at Jak. "Here, take this pass, it will get you into the Weapon's Factory. My father is meeting Krew there."

"And what do you plan on doing?" Jak asked and glared at her, taking the pass.

"I'm going to see if I can get Vin to intercept any communications between the KG. Then I'm warning Torn."

"Yeah, well good luck reaching him," Jak said and walked out. He grabbed the coat that he had left at the exit and scanned the streets. Krimzon Guards were everywhere, red armor, yellow armor and the random black armor that gave him the chills. Those guards could chase him down, even if he used Blue Eco, proof of that just as he entered the Palace.

He walked to the Port and in the direction of the neon sign illuminating the hip-hog. "Daxter had better be there," Jak growled and entered the building. He quickly gazed over the room and saw a few bottles flying over the bar's height. He stormed up to it and looked over the shiny top.

Jak shook his head at the sight of Daxter mixing drinks. Creating new ones that probably didn't exist. "Come on Dax, we gotta go."

"Why? I'm getting paid and I get to hang out with Tess!" Daxter exclaimed and handed a glass up to Tess. "Call it Orange Lightning!"

"Will do Dax," Tess giggled.

Jak shook his head, "Krew here?"

"No, said he had some business to attend to at the Weapon's Factory."

"You know where that is?"

"Near the Dig Site, its right nest to it."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Jak left and ran to the transporter in the port. The back opened and he ran in, it lifted off and he sighed. "How much longer is this going to last?" he asked out and sat with a long sight. He held his hand out and saw it was shaking uncontrollably. Shaking his head he mumbled, "I'm sleeping after this. I'm running on fumes."

He laid his head back and tried to get some sleep with the slow ride to the Dig Site.

~*~

After arriving at the destination, everything went by in a blue. KG Robots were destroyed in mere seconds, Krimzon guards that were alive were ripped to pieces. The only thing that literally kept Jak going was the urge to rip Krew a new one and then kill him, and also being on the verge of changing. He was so close he could sense the large amounts of Dark Eco just sitting dormant. If he were to simply touch the Dark Eco he was sure that he would change and be in that state for a long time.

He came to a stop at an elevator, there was no where else to go, but up. Jak leaned against a crate and panted, he could feel the fangs – that had yet to recede – throb, as if they wanted more to come. Jak almost let it, but he would save that raw energy for Krew. It was time that someone gave the fat lard a lesson.

Jak pushed himself up and climbed onto the elevator, the lift raised up by it and Jak sighed. It came to a stop and all Jak saw was a huge bomb. He slowly walked out and saw Krew hovering around it. "So what's this for?" Jak asked and Krew looked at him, putting on a sly grin.

"Do you know how magnificent weapons are?" he asked and Jak glared. "Likely not, but one of the few things I love more than money, is weapons. I love how they work; look how they're made, every little detail that makes them indestructible. You know how that feels right Jak?"

"Get to the point Krew," Jak growled and felt the fangs throb painfully.

"This magnificent thing before us, is the Piercer Bomb, and it's my latest work. The only weapon that is more powerful than even this – is Mar's Cannon! The old fool died before he could use it though. That old fun is powerful enough to blow open the entire Metal Head Nest!"

"But not the Precursor Stone?"

"Of course not! Mar was stupid enough to make that stupid rock be the power source of the gun. But none of that matters now!"

"And why not?" Jak looked around, was there a reason why there's so much of the Dark Eco in containers?

"Because Praxis intends to put the Precursor Stone in the bomb, then hide this magnificent beast in the latest shipment of Eco to their nest. Dumb animals won't see it coming," Krew cackled and lowered himself. "So take this gun upgrade and leave, forget what you saw here."

Jak took the upgrade and shook his head, with a scoff he said, "Not this time Krew. There are too many lives at stake. I'm through being your hired gun!"

Krew glared at Jak and then growled, "So its war isn't it? What are a few lives?"

Jak clenched his hands together and felt sparks of Dark Eco fly off of them. He snarled and Krew lifted up into the air, dropping small bombs. Jak took cover underneath the large bomb and waited. Krew would have to come back down and then he would strike.

Jak felt a sharp pain run through him and he morphed. His nails became claws, curling in anticipation for the kill. His eyes changed, creating a better view, the animal instincts taking control and calculating everything ten moves in advance. He felt his skin harden to the tough steel and rolled his shoulders back, able to move easily with his skin of steel.

He jerked his head around and saw Krew come down. Jak bent his knees and sprang at Krew, tearing his claws into the chair holding the fat man. He tore the tube that was always pumping and then he jumped off. He grabbed onto one of the pillars holding the bomb and smirked.

Krew crashed to the base of the pillar and Jak dropped down. Krew cackled and took a button, pressing it. "I've sold you all out! My legacy will live on!"

Jak heard a loud beep and saw the Heart of Mar near Krew. Jak shook his head, grabbed the gem and looked down at Krew. "To late to give my notice?" he asked with a smirk.

The sound of a cruiser roared behind him and he looked. Ashelin was the driver. "Burn in hell," Jak growled and walked over to Ashelin. "Move it!"

She sped away and not a few seconds later, the huge bomb blew up. "What the hell?!"

"Krew signed his own death sentence. Take me to the Hip Hog, I gotta get Daxter."

"You look like you need to crash!"

"Like none other," he complained and Ashelin drove. He watched the scenery go by and his senses dulled severly. He looked at his hands and the gray color was gone, so were the claws. The fangs were still there, but he could tell that the horns had never grown. He sighed and overheard Ashelin talking into a communicator, flying over the city wall.

She landed in front of the Hip Hog and Jak climbed out. "Do me a favor?" he asked and Ashelin nodded. "Take this to Keira for me." He pulled out the Heart of Mar and he saw Ashelin gape. "It's for something important."

"Got it. Just do what you gotta do," she said and took off.

Jak walked into the bar and looked around. "Where'd everyone go?" he asked and saw Tess bussing a table.

"They all had to leave. Some security warning," Tess answered and Jak nodded.

"Anything exciting happen?"

"Well Daxter made drinks… that was about it. Nothing really."

"Care if I get some sleep?"

"Nope."

Jak walked up to an already clean table and lay down. He closed his eyes and everything fell asleep in his mind.


	39. The Demolition Duo Returns

**Risen Angel: How excited are you guys?! Cause I am!!! Doh it's just so close!!! :3**

Chapter Thirty-Nine – The Demolition Duo Returns

"_Jak will you just look at me?!"_

"_Why?!" he snapped and looked at the dream-Keira. "So then you can judge me too?!"_

"_Why would I judge you? You're innocent. They're sending you away!"_

"_You think I don't know that?! It's all because I change!" he yelled and stormed away. She followed him and took hold of his arm. "You know what really pisses me off? It's the fact that all those bastards sending me away, don't even want to think about all the things I've done for them. Pisses me off."_

"_Jak, Ashelin is trying."_

"_And what if I get the death sentence? What then?"_

_Keira bowed her head and Jak walked away. His form disappeared and Keira looked up. "Jak, I love you."_

~*~

Jak jumped at that and looked around. He was still in the bar and he heard Daxter cheering. He looked over at them and saw that an item that looked like the Time Map come out of the machine.

"The Time Map!" he yelled and ran over to them. "Did Krew put that in there?"

"Yeah" Tess answered and smiled at Daxter. "Daxter got it out!"

"Yeah! And if any Metal Heads come around, I'll bonk 'em just like I did in the game!"

The door opened and Jak looked at it, two Metal Heads walked in. Tess gasped and Jak pulled out his gun. "Um… Dax."

Daxter turned and gasped. "Jak! These trophies are still breathing!" Jak cocked his gun and fired at the Metal Heads. They died and Jak walked to the door. "Me-me Metal Heads! What are they doing in the city?! Where's Sig when ya need him?"

"Sig?" Tess asked and Jak looked at her, slamming the door shut. "I think Krew sent Sig on one last mission. Something about using Mar's Ruby Key to open a door in the Under Port."

"Of course!" Jak exclaimed. "The Under Port! Tess, take Daxter and go to the Stadium. Give the Time Map to Keira, she needs it. I'm going to find Sig."

"Okay."

"Jak! You'll be okay?" Daxter asked and Jak nodded. "Promise?"

"Promise," Jak said and smiled. "I'll be back." Jak left and sprinted over to the entrance to the Under Port. He grabbed an air mouth piece, put it in his mouth and entered the Under Port.

The doors opened and Jak saw ruins, they were crumbling and sea weed and other types of algae had grown everywhere. Jak swam as fast as he could, passing through arc and odd sea monster Metal Heads. They ignored him and he continued.

He pulled himself up onto dry land and took out the mouth piece. He shook his head and water flew every where. "Where the hell is Sig?" he asked and heard rapid gun fire. "There he is."

Jak picked himself up and shook off as much water as he could. He followed the sound of gunfire and finally caught sight of Sig over a chasm. Jak sprinted toward it and rolled as he landed. "Hey there bit guy," Jak said. Sig turned and shot at him. Jak dropped to his stomach and panted.

"Bout time you showed up!" Sig yelled and continued to fire at the Metal Heads. "Krew sent me down here to open some doors with Mar's Ruby Key. And when I did, Metal Heads from some secret passage outside the city just poured in."

"This is what Krew was talking about," Jak said and growled, firing Yellow Eco at a Metal Head.

"Yeah, well I'm gonna kill Krew!"

"Krew's dead."

"Well he's one lucky son of a bitch! Who got him?"

"I did," Jak said and morphed his hand into it's darker form and slashed his claws into the skull gem of one, ripping it out, then slashing the monsters throat. "And it ended too quick for him."

"Damn. Well come on, we gotta get out of here," Sig said and moved forward. "We're gonna have to watch our six. Those Metal Heads will still be coming."

"Have you tried shutting the door?"

"You kidding? Course I did! Damn thing won't move!"

"Great," Jak mumbled and they walked forward slowly. "Why do I get the feeling that there's gonna be something nasty coming up?"

The wall behind them started to move. "Cause there is!" Sig yelled and pushed Jak forward. The wall came tumbling down, what came out was a huge worm like Metal Head. "Shooting at this will only make it angry boy. Run!" Sig ran away and Jak stared at it for a second. He sprinted off and tried to catch up with Sig.

They came to a bridge and Sig was waiting at the other end, ready to run again. Jak ran over the bridge and the worm chased him. The weight of the worm made the bridge crumble and Jak leapt forward.

His fingers skimmed the edge of the solid platform that Sig was on and he couldn't grab anything. An arm grabbed his and stopped his fall. "Woah there chili-pepper!" he said and pulled Jak up. "I need you to watch my six and I gotta watch yours."

Jak rolled onto his back and panted. 'Thanks Sig," he said and sat up. "I owe you one."

"You owe me a lot of things, but this doesn't count."

Jak stood up and walked with Sig through the narrow passages. "What was that thing?" Jak asked and looked up at Sig.

"A Metal-Pead. Those bastards are huge! They are usually only found in the desert Wasteland. Seeing one this far away from the desert is definitely odd. I wonder if the Wastelanders out there have noticed anything."

Jak nodded and listened ahead. They seemed to be getting somewhere, cause he could hear gunfire above.

"How did you get Krew?"

"At the Weapon's Factory. He tried to bribe me. It didn't work. He had this bomb there and after I got him down he started it up. He deserved to have his bodily organs removed slowly and painfully."

"That he does," Sig said and nodded, hefting his gun onto his shoulder. "What was the bomb for?"

"To blow open the Precursor Stone. Which they think will only blow up the Metal Heads and the Leader, but they're wrong."

"How?"

"If the Precursor Stone is destroyed, they won't even get a chance to hide. The entire planet will be destroyed with the power."

"What?!" Sig yelled and grabbed Jak's shoulder. "Do they even know?"

"More than likely, but I know they don't care. I'm living proof." Jak pulled his shoulder away and glared up at Sig. "All I know is that Praxis still has the stone and if we don't get it back, they can still rebuild that bomb and still use it. Praxis has to pay!"

"That he does," Sig replied with a nod and walked on.

The rest of the trek was uneventful and ultimately made Jak tired. He dragged his feet and knew instantly that he was once again running on fumes. He didn't feel tired, but every part of his brain said that he needed sleep.

"Come on Chili-pepper," Sig said and patted Jak on the back. "We're almost there. Ya know what, you boy would be a great Wastelander. Your stamina is amazing." Jak chuckled and Sig stopped. "I'm being serious! And how about this for a plan; you and me will head out to that damned Metal Head Nest, power up Mar's old gun, blow open the nest; and we'll teach that damned leader of theirs what it means to rip someone a new one! How does that sound?"

Jak turned to Sig and smiled. "Sounds like a –" he looked up and saw the Metal-Pead. "Sig!" he yelled and the monster came down, swallowing Sig. "No!" Jak dropped to his knees and stared into the chasm. He shook his head and sobbed silently. "Not Sig!"

His communicator went off and he grabbed it. "Hello?" he asked.

"Jak? It's Keira. Come to the Stadium will ya? I got some news."

"Yeah," he said and sniffed.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. I'll be there in about ten minutes or so."

"Okay," she said and ended the connection.

Jak picked himself up, walked to the door that was ten feet away from them. He opened the door and saw the lift. "Are you fucking kidding me?! Fuck you!"

Jak curled into a ball on the lift, the machine crawled up and by then Jak had settled down and was ready to fight some evil sons of bitches. He walked out of the lift and took a zoomer, speeding off and dodging Dark Eco blasts from the Metal Heads.

The Stadium seemed devoid of all life. On the far end Jak could see a huge balloon and the two Sages nearby it. He sped over to them and dropped down and then stopped, sliding off.

"Jak! Good to see ya boy," Samos said and slapped Jak on the back. Jak sighed and closed his eys. "What's wrong Jak?"

"I'm just really tired," he answered and looked at the Rift Rider. "Will it work?"

"Course it will! Why wouldn't it?" Keira exclaimed and smiled to him. She walked u to him and smiled. "It really is nice to see you again Jak."

"It's nice to see you too, but you do realize that if you plan on taking that to wherever, it's going to take forever."

"Yes! But Brutter has a transport ready for us."

"Really? And where's the Warp Gate?"

"Um, Vin told me and it's in the middle of the Metal Head nest."

"What?" Jak asked and his face dropped.

"Yo Jak!" Daxter exclaimed and jumped onto his shoulder. "You ready to rock that monster's world?!"

"Yeah."

"It's time for the Demolition Duo to go into battle!" Daxter raised his paw to high-five Jak and he wasn't receiving it. "Uh Jak? This is where we high-five."

"Huh? Sorry. I'm just really tired."

Something hard hit Jak in the back and Brutter's voice said, "Do not aworry Jakkie! Lurker ballons are slow and you can get lotses of sleeps!"

"Sleep isn't what I need."

"What?! If you be tired, then you need lotses of rests! And foods! You look a twig!"

"I'm fine! I just need to go and talk with the Oracle. Maybe it can help."

"But you'll be okay?" Keira asked and Jak nodded. "I'm going with you."

"No!" Jak yelled and he felt the fangs throb and grow again. "I'll be facing Metal Heads and I'll lose track of everything. I could kill you. You will be safe with them."

"Come Keira," Samos said and took her arm. "Jak is right."

"I think he's right too!" Daxter yelled. "I think I'll go with them too!"

"Nope," Jak said and grabbed onto Daxter's tail as he leapt away. "You're coming with me. You've been out of the line of fire for too long."

"Are you kidding?!" Daxter yelled and Jak smirked. "You're evil!"

"Ah, but not that bad."

"You're still evil!"

"Get going guys," Jak said and watched them lift into the air.

"Why'd you make her go with 'em?"

"She'll be safer," Jak said and took the zoomer and went to the Water Slums.

"Why do you think the Oracle will help ya? Not like it has before," Daxter grumbled and curled himself around Jak's neck.

"I've been on the brink of changing for awhile. I'm ready to snap," Jak groaned and dodged gunfire.

He landed next to the Oracle hut and opened the door, dragging his feet the last few steps. "Oracle you will –" Jak threatened and dropped to his knees. His energy felt completely zapped, as if it were stolen from him.

"Fix him damn it!" Daxter yelled and launched himself at the Oracle. "I said to fucking fix him!"

"A time for every will come. I shall grant him enough energy to last for his fight, but he must learn once and for all the trick of how to always win."

"What?!" Daxter exclaimed and looked at Jak. "Are you kidding?! He's running on fumes! I said to fix him!"

A white string of light threw itself at Jak and lifted him up. "This battle you are heading to may possibly be you last. Know this though, to truly win this war, sometimes it's best to know when to fight dirty."

Jak dropped to his knees and looked at his hands, they had stopped the shaking. He stood up and his brain felt like live wire, calculating everything twice as fast. "I feel like my dark self. Which means I have a weapon."

Daxter grinned and leapt onto the elf's shoulder. "The Demolition duo is back and ready to rip the Metal Head Leader a new one! Let's go get him Jak!"

"With pleasure," he said and grinned, he could feel his fangs and right now, he could care less.


	40. Last Stand

**Risen Angel: O!M!G!!!! This might be the last chapter!!! *sob* my baby!!!! I'll see if this needs a chapter after, but I plan on closing all the ties here. I don't have the heart to start any sequels and oi just thinking about it makes me wanna cry… *cries* **

Chapter Forty – Last Stand

"Jak," Daxter said, gently tapping the elf on the head. "Got a message from Ashelin, said her father is at the Construction Site in the city."

Jak clawed out the skull gem of a Metal Head and nodded, slashing through the Metal Heads; leaving a trail of blood and dead monsters, Jak reached the Construction Site. He shook his head and cleared his thoughts. He would have to calm down before he went in, it could be his only shot at redemption.

He snuck in quietly and saw Praxis and three regular red armored guards with him. He went down as far as he could and overheard him talking to the guards, saying that it was time for the Leader to be there soon.

Jak sprinted down the rest of the way, planning on jumping at Praxis and clawing his lungs out. He skidded to a stop when Kor fell from the sky. "Kor?!" he yelled and Praxis looked at him, the three guards aimed their weapons at him. "What are you doing here?"

Kor brushed himself off and turned to Jak. "Oh, I'm sure you know. Deep down in your darkest nightmares," Kor growled and Jak could have sworn that his face mutated and huge fangs sprouted out of his mouth, his eyes changing to the same shape and color of regular Metal Heads. "We've met before, remember?"

Kor walked toward a larger clearing and tossed his cane aside. He cackled and his bones cracked, then huge wings sprouted from his back. His arms morphed into large muscled limbs and then he was enveloped in a white light. In a flash his body was changed from the old man and was turned into a large Metal Head. "Jak," Daxter whispered and Jak looked up at him. "I think he's the Metal Head Leader."

"No shit!" Jak yelled and backed away.

"Finally! With the shield walls down I can now change to my full potential now!!" Kor yelled and roared. "Now," he looked at Praxis, "for the last time, give me the Precursor Stone!"

Jak looked at Praxis and saw a glare of defiance. "If the city must die, then we all die!!" the aged man yelled and drew a large sword, a green glow coming off of it.

Jak glared and looked back at Kor. The huge beast growled and purple light came from his mouth, becoming larger. It erupted and blew up in the small barricade that Praxis made. "I will find that stone, even if I have to take this city apart, one brick at a time!" Kor yelled and flew away.

Jak leaped over to where Praxis' body was and pulled the debris off of him. "You were the supreme weapon Jak," he mumbled and turned himself over. "You were made to defeat him, and I made you." Jak glared at him. "But any leader worth his salt, always has his back up plan." He took a button and pressed it. Jak looked over to a platform that had risen and saw a replica of the Piercer Bomb. Jak went to walk over to it and Praxis finished, "Remember, the rule to making a bomb, is to always make two."

Jak looked at him and saw the man give his last breath. "You deserve a worse death," Jak cursed and walked over to the bomb. "Daxter go in there."

"Fine! Just because I'm a rodent I have to go into the bomb and try and get the damned Precursor Stone!" Daxter exclaimed and leaped onto the bomb; he scurried under the Stone and yelled out, "Oh what a mess of junk in here! All jumbled; coils and switches! Uh… should I unhook the blue wire? Wait a minute! Are Ottsels colorblind?! Uh… let me just a break a few more things and see if anything pops loose."

Jak swallowed a lump and the Precursor Stone flew out at him. Daxter came out and said, "Scared ya didn't I?" he giggled and added, "Like taking candy from a baby!" He leaped over to Jak and landed on the shoulder plate. "To the Nest!"

Jak ran out of the Construction Site and his communicator popped out. "Jak! It's Vin! Metal Heads are attacking the Power Station! I don't know how long the door will hold!" Vin's voice yelled through it and Jak stopped running. He stared at the communicator and heard Vin scream and then fuzz.

"Vin!" Jak yelled and grabbed the communicator. Nothing came back and he was answered with more white noise. "Fuck," he growled and Daxter bowed his head.

His communicator crackled again and he looked at it. "Jak, its Ashelin. The shield walls are down completely. Metal Heads are streaming in! If you can get to the nest and kill the Metal Head Leader, I'm pretty sure that the Metal Heads will all just die. They are so focused on the attack here; the nest will be practically empty."

"You don't think they thought of this?"

"I'm sure they did, but it's all we got!" Ashelin yelled and Jak heard gunfire. "Look, just head out there and get to the Leader, kill him if you can!"

Jak put his communicator away and sprinted out to the Port, dodging attacks from the Metal Heads. "Make the Transport take you! That thing is indestructible!" Daxter yelled over the gunfire and Jak nodded, running over to it. He ran in and it lifted off into the air. Daxter leaped into the driver's area and said, "We need to go to the Metal Head nest."

"What?!" the man yelled and Jak cocked his gun. "Okay, okay! It's your death wish!"

"That's what we thought," Daxter chimed and climbed into the back. "Our ride is set! I guess just to sit back and relax for a little bit."

Jak sat down and closed his eyes. The size of that Metal Head was huge, but the Metal-Pead was also huge, Sig had said that just shooting at that worm thing would only make it mad, what would make the Leader break? He tried to think of what could be weak points, but that entire shell that surrounded the Metal Head looked to be made of steel. The wings looked to have a weak hold on him, but they were also huge and could lift him up, so they weren't all too weak. If anything the weakest part of the Leader would be the inside and he didn't exactly want to have to be eaten to beat a monster.

~*~

Metal Heads were scarce, but the transport left as soon as it could. Jak smirked and looked around; he could see the machines that Mar had brought to the nest from before. Small tanks that looked like they could cause a lot of damage, but one thing stood out, the huge explosion marks around them that only Dark Eco could cause. Jak looked around and heard Daxter mumble that this place looks like Dead Town.

Jak quietly stepped through the rocky ground. One wrong step and the rocks could all slide down, he knew that; but with the rocks falling down it could be the distraction he needed if he really had something big was up ahead. He climbed up a large hill and saw a huge assembly of Metal Heads.

"Well that sucks ass," Daxter whispered and cringed. "How we gonna get passed them?"

"Would you be a distraction?" Jak said and put on a smile.

"No!" Daxter growled and smacked Jak across the head. "You are crazy if you are going to use me as a distraction!"

Jak looked back at the rocks below and under them. "I have an idea," he whispered and placed a load of Dark Eco in his spot, running to another spot and doing the same. He released his hold on the loads and they blew up, making the rocks tumble down and crushing most of the Metal Heads. They looked up at him and roared. "Time for a little rumble."

Jak slid down the hill of rocks and flashed his claws. He charged into the mass of Metal Heads and slashed through them, ripping out skull gems and leaving behind dying Metal Heads that were ripped apart. Daxter took Jak's gun and fired off the large gun, bracing himself against Jak for the ricochet.

The Metal Heads seemed to be weak, unused to being in a fight. The Metal Heads that had attacked Haven were stronger than these, which was odd. You would think that you would send your weaker forces in first and then send in the tougher groups. Jak finished the last ones and shook his head, nothing was there. The Metal Heads that had been killed by the rocks were no longer moaning, and the ones he had killed were still bleeding, but no longer making a noise.

"These Metal Heads are kind of scary Jak," Daxter said and pointed at one. The face was mutilated and not from Jak's claws.

Jak kicked it and it dissolved into Dark Eco. "These are weak Metal Heads. They aren't made for fighting," Jak said and bent down, looking at a different Metal Head. He shook his head and stood up. He walked away and toward the large red weapon that was in the distance. "Mar's gun is right there."

More Metal Heads came up and they put up more of a fight, but they were still no where near as strong as the others back in Haven. He came up to Mar's gun and his communicator went off. "Answer it Dax," Jak said and stepped onto a lift.

"Dax here," the ottsel said and Jak looked at it.

"It's Ashelin. We're being overwhelmed by the Metal Heads. You should just get to the rift and go back to your own time Jak."

Jak growled and grabbed the Precursor Stone out of his pack. He shoved it into the slot that was shaped just like it. "This city is worth fight for!" he yelled and the stone slid in, the gun waking up.

"Then good luck Jak," she said and the line went dead.

"Ya know, I sort of agree with her. We should just leave," Daxter said and Jak growled. "Or not."

Jak looked at the front of the gun and cackled. "Stone. Gun. Nest," he said and grinned.

"Light her up padre!" Daxter yelled and Jak slammed in a button.

Jak cackled and the gun charged up, then fired a large green explosion. "Let's go get him," Jak growled and backed away from the gun, taking the Precursor Stone with him

"What? You mean go in there?!" Daxter yelled and looked at Jak. His face was in a glare and Daxter could have sworn that Jak was grinning. "Whatever you say."

Jak ran into another sector and slashed through more Metal Heads, dodging the large elephant like Metal Head and ran up a hill. The terrain was still dead, no life and there were pools of Dark Eco; they drew Jak to them, but he knew that he couldn't touch them. He couldn't for fear of changing and then also of possibly dying. Daxter noticed how the huge elephant Metal Heads did nothing. They seemed to be more like a perimeter.

Roars from inside a large dome like area caught Jak's attention. He ran over to it and saw an entrance not far from him. He walked in and saw the huge behemoth that the Metal Head leader was.

"So, you've finally decided to join us Jak," Kor said and Jak gulped. "Good. And you've brought the Precursor Stone. Now the boy can play his final part." Kor moved his tail and Jak saw the kid in a blue orb.

"Let him go!" Jak yelled and took a step toward the monster.

"Not so fast," Kor said and nodded at the platform that Jak was on. "One more step and that will break." Jak looked down at the ledge and saw that it was in fact a piece of rock hanging on by sheer force. "Now, be a good boy and give the Precursor Stone to me."

"I'd rather die," Jak growled and Kor seemed to smile.

Jak took a step back and Daxter shivered. "You see boy, that can be arranged and I don't have to do a thing to you, exactly," Kor said and raised his hand, the boy lifting up. Jak stared at him and watched Kor's movements. He pierced two claws into the orb and slashed a claw into the boy's leg. Jak dropped to his knees and Daxter crawled off, lifting Jak's head. "You may not know it, but you and the boy are connected."

Daxter looked at Kor and glared. "What did you do?!"

Kor made a curl of his mouth and answered, "You see, this child is such a part of this, such a part of you Jak. Don't you see it, rodent? The boy is Jak! And this place, this ugly city; is where he began; in the future!"

"What?" Jak asked and he stood up, the Dark Eco healing his wound.

"You see, Onin had a vision of you when you weren't even born. She saw that you would kill me, but in order to save you, she had to send into the past, to prepare yourself for this fight. But Onin was wrong! Now that you have been tainted with Dark Eco; that Stone will never open for you! But the boy," Kor laughed, "The boy still has the pure gift though, and he will unleash the last Precursor!"

"This Stone is a Precursor?" Jak asked and looked at the Stone.

"Yes. Mar's last Precursor Egg. He hid it well, tracking his steps well and hiding them from me. But… now that it is within my grasp, I will finally have the last Precursor Life Force!"

"Um…" Daxter said and looked at Jak with a smile. "I think you're forgetting one little ol' thing Metalo-maniac! We've got the Precursor Stone!"

"Not for long!" Kor yelled and created a large purple light. Jak grabbed Daxter and turned, bracing himself for the blast.

The Eco hit the rock and threw Jak into the air, he fell into the rocks below and more fell on top of him. Jak felt the change coming and he let it take control. His body lashed out against the rocks, his skin becoming like metal, his nails becoming the claws he had become to depend on so much, his eyes changing to the demonic black color and the horns making their appearance and coming out, curling around his head and dripping Dark Eco. Jak forced himself out of the rocks and hissed.

"Die boy!" Kor yelled and roared.

Jak sprinted out to him and dodged a swipe of the claws. He grabbed the orb and moved it away, tossing it up to the ledge. Jak growled and climbed onto the Metal Head, tearing his claws into the tough skin. Kor roared and grabbed hold of Jak's pack, throwing him into a wall.

"Daxter get off and take the bag!" Jak growled and pulled off the pack, giving it to Daxter. "Get away!" Jak stood up again and walked up to Kor. "Come and get me big boy!"

Kor growled and took Jak into his grasp, eating him.

"Jak!" Daxter yelled and stopped where he was. "Damn it Jak!" Daxter climbed up the rocks to the ledge and sat down next to the orb.

Kor swallowed Jak and shook. He licked his claws and then jerked. He felt a stab of pain in his stomach and then something ripped through his skin. He shook with a spasm and hole appeared in his stomach, Jak tore through the organs and clawed his hands into the skin, taking a good hold of it and pushing himself off the beast. He kicked off of a stalagmite and continued to tear the skin off of Kor. He reached the wings and pulled the skin further, reaching the other side and pulling the skin he had in his grasp completely off Kor.

Kor roared and threw Jak into a wall again. Jak smirked and Kor dropped from his perch in the room. Kor went after Jak and the elf dodged his blows, running away from Kor and throwing Dark Eco bombs at Kor as he went. "Come and get me old man!" Jak laughed out and stopped, Kor took a hold of Jak and he smirked.

"You will now die!" Kor yelled out and Jak smirked, coursing the Dark Eco in his system, mixing it with all the Yellow Eco he could muster and threw it at Kor. The Yellow Eco made the Dark Eco a flaming ball. Kor stared at it and it struck him in the spot where the skin was. He released Jak and had a spasm. His body lifted up slightly and he moved over to the now seen Warp Gate. He tried to go in and Jak watched as he lost altitude and crashed into the bottom of the Gate.

A current of Eco of all kinds went through Kor and his body exploded. His head landed and Jak looked around, his change disappeared in a shudder. He saw the Lurker balloon come up and then he saw that Daxter was helping the kid down. He smiled and fell to his knees; he bowed his head and panted. The Oracle only did give him enough energy to last for the fight.

The balloon landed and Keira jumped off, running to Jak. "Jak!" she yelled and took him into her arms. He laid his head on her shoulder and his breath evened out, easing into an almost deep slumber. "Get up Jak," she whispered and took hold of his head. He looked at her with eyes half opened and she smiled at him. "It's over."

She helped him up and Daxter came over with the kid. Tess picked him up and smiled at him. He smiled back and made a silent giggle. Tess brought him over to Jak and he reached over to Jak. "Have him touch the Precursor Stone," Jak whispered and the kid looked at the green stone. He walked over to it and gently tapped it once.

A blue light came out and flashed, becoming a figure of an elf. "It's a Precursor," both Samoses said together and the being hovered over them for a minute.

"You dear hero of time, our savior of our enemy, will no longer have this weakness. The darkness inside of you will now be balanced by a glorious light. The curse placed upon you no longer exists and the harmony of your life will soon begin," the glowing Precursor said and nodded his head at Jak. Jak nodded back and the glow left, going towards the Warp. "We will meet again."

Keira looked at Tess and the blond elf helped Jak to his feet. He leaned heavily on her and Keira ran to the Rider. She started it up and typed in the coordinates. "Come on everyone. Let's go home."

Jak lifted his head and looked at Keira. "Keira, we are home," he said and saw a tiny version of Keira come out from behind the younger Samos.

"What?" she asked and looked at Samos.

"Yes, we are in fact home. This is the very device that we used or will use when we came through the rift," Samos said and looked at the younger Jak.

"What? I just built this after seeing the first one and it isn't even right!" she exclaimed and looked at her father.

"This is perfect Keira. It will do its job. This device is to take young Jak here to a place where he will grow up safe from harm; and the younger you."

"What?" she asked and blinked, seeing the young girl behind the Shadow.

"So it is true, isn't it?" the young Sage asked and Samos nodded. "I'm supposed to go into the past and make sure that they grow up safe from harm? Geez talk about being in the wrong time at the right place. This is going to add rings to my trunk like none other."

"You have no idea," Samos said and the two chuckled.

Jak limped over to his younger and helped him onto the rider. The boy took the necklace around his neck and gave it to Jak. "Thank you," Jak said and smiled, taking the Seal of Mar into his hand. "Oh! Trust me with this, okay. Stay away from any wumpbee nests on your ninth birthday. No matter what Daxter says! Okay?" The kid nodded and Jak rubbed his head. "I'll miss ya," he whispered and the kid hugged him.

Tess pulled Keira away from the rider and then caught Jak was he tripped off the platform. He leaned against her again and she smiled. "It's okay Jak," she said and Daxter climbed up his shoulder.

The rider lifted off and the two younger children waved. The younger Sage was saying his good bye and they went into the rift. Samos came up to Jak and patted him on the back. "You know what's sad, is that he will never remember any of this," he said and bowed his head.

Jak shook his head. "No. You're wrong. I remember the light," he whispered and his sight went black.


	41. Salutations

**Risen Angel: Okay, one more chapter!! This will tie up any loose ends and I'm still super sorry about the fact that I'm not doing any sequels. Trust me I really wanted to, it's just not gonna happen. **

Chapter Forty-One – Salutations

Jak woke up in a bed. He wasn't sure how he got there and he wasn't sure why he was there. All he did know though was that every muscle in his body ached like nothing else. He looked around the room after sitting up slightly and saw Keira was semi lying on the bed. Her head was on the bed and her hand was wrapped around his. He looked at the door and saw an odd shadow.

A female figure came out and she smiled. "Lorelie," he whispered and she nodded. "Was everything true?"

"Yes," she whispered and came up to him. "Everything. Right down to your lineage. You are the rightful heir to the throne. You are King Damas' son and still unnamed. But I'm sure he would still name you Jak."

He looked at her and saw weariness in her. "What's wrong?" he asked and she bowed her head.

"Nothing," she answered and gave a slight smile. "I have my own business to attend to. But I do have someone to introduce to you." She turned back to the shadowed corner and snapped her fingers. The figure of Nyx appeared and also of Nykki. Jak gasped and he stared at them. "Nyx was taken to a morgue and was given life back to him. I found Nykki and she was taught the way of prophecy. When she comes of age she will be given a translator and she will become a wonderful prophet. Nyx will go with her and demand that all boys who vie for her attention realize that he will do whatever it takes to protect his little girl."

"Nyx? Is it really you?" Jak asked and the older man walked up to Jak.

"Yes Jak, it really is me," he answered and gave a slight smile. "And I know you tried," he added. "Don't doubt that."

"What happened to you?" Jak asked and looked at Nyx's face. His eyes were pure black and there was an odd purple tint to it; a long scar traced along his face.

"Came with me when I came back," he answered and sighed. "Made of basically metal; you sure did do a number on me. But I would go back and make sure that you killed me again and again if I had the chance. You're a good man Jak, and you sure will make that little lady happy."

Jak looked at Keira and smiled. She was still sleeping and he was glad. Nykki walked up and touched Jak on the arm. She smiled and he looked at her. _"Know this though Jak, there will be many trials ahead of you. Pain is for sure, but also a healing will come with it. Don't worry; it won't happen for a while. Nothing has caused for the occurrence to happen yet. I will come to you when that time does come though, don't worry about that. Onin's interpreter will not divulge those answers willingly."_

Jak nodded to her and she smiled. "Thank you Nykki," he said and she nodded. She made the simple gesture of 'thank you' back to him and he nodded.

"Well, I have to return these guys back to their right place," Lorelie said and smiled. "Come on you two, got some things to do today." Nyx and Nykki returned to the corner and Lorelie went with them. "Whatever you do Jak, just don't piss off the bigger people."

Jak nodded and they disappeared.

Keira stirred next to him and she sat up, squeezing Jak's hand. "You're up," she said and he nodded. "Do you know what happened? Daxter wasn't being clear."

"We went to the Oracle. It granted me enough energy to last until the end of the fight with the Metal Head Leader. Luckily I didn't use it all before then," Jak answered and Keira nodded. "How long was I out?"

"About a day. Nothing too drastic happened while you were out."

"That's good," Jak said and looked around. "Where are we?"

"Well… we were in the Underground hideout, but I didn't like it there so I had some guys bring you to Mai-Ann's home. She said it was fine and I knew that you would like her."

Jak nodded and shook his head. "Man I feel like I got plowed over by the Sculptures Muse; then trampled over by a Flut-Flut and then your father yelled at me."

"Well, Daddy did yell at you for passing out. He didn't understand why you would."

"Does he want to have Dark Eco pumped into his body?!" Jak yelled and stars danced in his sight. "I just want to sleep."

"Well, I'm sure you can in a little bit. Daxter's having a party at the bar because he now owns it," Keira said and Jak looked at her funny. "Yeah. That's what I thought. But I want you to meet Mai first."

She helped him up from the bed and led him through the small house into the kitchen where Jak could smell warm food and spices that made him think of Sandover. "Precursors; does that smell good," he mumbled and Keira sat him down in a chair at the table.

"Well I sure hope so," Mai-Ann chimed and brought over a plate of food. "I made it home-made. So eat up skinny."

Jak looked up at Mai-Ann and recognized her from those dreams that Lorelie made him have. "Question, were you the nanny for the children of the Mar family?" he asked and Keira looked at him.

"How did you…"

"Were you there when the fire happened?"

"What are you…"

"Just answer the question."

"Yes to both. But what are you trying to get at? I don't see what this means to you."

Jak looked at the ground and searched back at the dreams. Why didn't she recognize him? He was the boy. "Mai, what I think Jak is trying to get at is that he was the little boy," Keira said and Mai-Ann gasped.

"No! He was nothing more than what… five years?! How could you be that boy?!"

"Time travel Mai," Keira answered and put a hand on Jak's shoulder. "It's confusing."

Mai-Ann sighed and shook her head, "Well you better eat. I got more where it came from and there is no way that little ol' me is gonna be able to eat it all. Now eat!" She disappeared into another part of the house and Keira sat down next to Jak.

Jak ate the food and shook his head. Things were way to confusing.

~*~

"Welcome to the Naughty Ottsel!" Daxter exclaimed and hopped in front of Jak. "The hippest, happenist, hoppinest bar in town!" Jak shook his head and he walked to the bar, sitting down and Tess put a shot of something in front of him. "Check out the new décor!"

Jak looked up and saw the head of the Metal Head Leader. "How'd you get that here Dax?"

"With a lot of muscle power! Look at these guns!" Daxter yelled and held up his tiny arms. He kissed each one and grinned. "Drink it! It'll wake ya up!"

Jak took the shot glass and drank it; the burning sensation that alcohol gave him went down his throat and warmed his entire person. Keira sat down next to him and smiled. "How ya doing?"

"I'll live," he said and took out the Seal of Mar.

"Daddy says that we should remember everyone that sacrificed their lives for the war," Keira said and looked at Jak. He looked at the Seal and ran his thumb over the dips and crevices. "You miss him huh?" she asked and he looked at her.

"What blows me, is that the little boy; was me," he said and scoffed. "Better times huh?"

"You wanna know what I think, is that the boy grows up to a devilish handsome hero," she said and kissed him softly.

The door opened and Jak looked at it, seeing the glowing skull gems of Metal Heads. He put Keira behind him and then saw Sig. "Sig?!" he yelled and ran up to him. "How did you?"

"What? You think that some oversized lizard was gonna keep me from the biggest party in town did ya? Besides, seems like you did all the dirty work for me." Jak shook his head and Sig hit him on the back. "Ya did good Cherry."

Jak nodded and looked outside; explosions were going off over the Port. Keira walked up to him and took him outside. He looked up and saw fireworks. And they were of all different colors. Colors that the Eco's never would have been able to pull off on their own. "Science is a wonderful thing, isn't it?" she asked and put an arm around Jak. She looked up at him and he continued to stare at the falling sparks of light.

Sig came out with them and Samos did as well. "You know," Sig said and sighed. "My momma used to tell me bed time stories about Mar when I was a kid. Gave a warm glass of Yakow milk, my little poopsie bear."

Jak snorted out a laugh and Keira giggled. "You do know that you just ruined your image?" Jak asked and looked up at the tall elf.

"Yup, and I don't really care right now."

"You will if Daxter hears it," Jak said and looked at Samos.

"You know, I'm pretty sure that we'll meet Mar one day. He may be closer than you think."

"You're the designated driver boy," Sig said and handed Jak the Ruby Key.

Jak shook his head. "Oh no! I am done with adventures! Besides, you'll tell me if something happens right Samos? Right Samos?!"

"Well you never know what the future may old. I may just be guessing," he said and whistled, walking away.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to be in a world of hurt?" Jak asked and Keira giggled.

"Because, if you don't kiss me you will be," she answered and gave him a quick kiss. "Now it's time to start a real life here in Haven."

"Now that it's a real Haven," Jak said and chuckled. "Wonder what this place will be like in a couple of years?"

"More than likely in turmoil and then they'll have to ask you for help," Keira said with a smile and then added, "But they'll have to pry you from me and my stone grip. You won't be leaving me for a long time. Understand?"

"Got it," Jak said and smiled, looking back up at the fireworks. "Thank the Precursors that this is done."

_**THE END**_

**Risen Angel: Well there you have it. I got my goal accomplished and I finished this before Christmas Break. Once again I'm sorry to those that were really looking forward to having sequels. I'm sure that once I get my bearings in the right order and I have some things planned out more specifically for me, I'll be just right with starting another project like this. It was definitely fun to do and I would do it again, but I would also like to have a lot of time to do it in. This took me two years to do, and this is the longest thing that I've ever written. My baby. My baby is all done and growded up. *sniff sniff* Well, I guess I'll let you do your thing and review! I appreciate all the love that you've given me and I love you all!!! Believe me!!! I love you!!!!!**


End file.
